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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028819212
GENEALOGICAL NOTES
OF
B^TO'FPIiE F^MIWE^,
BEING A REPRINT OP THE
AMOS OTIS PAPERS,
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN
THE BARNSTABLE PATRIOT.
REVISED BY C. F. SWIFT,
Largely from Notes Made by the Author.
VOLUME I.
BARNSTABLE, MASS. :
F. B. & F. P. GOSS, PUBLISHEES AND PRINTEES.
[ The "Pateiot" Pkess. ] ~^
1888.
,'.. /^"
-5 " .')
F
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by
F. B. Goss,
in the oflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
EDITOR'S NOTE.
When Mr. Goss, some months ago, informed me of his
intention to reproduce the papers of Mr. Amos Otis relating
to the early families of Barnstable, and asked me to assist
in preparing them for the press, I felt that the undertaking
was one which merited the commendation and encourage-
ment of all who revere the memory of our ancestors. Hav-
ing in my possession Mr. Otis's extensive revision of those
papers, together with some notes of my own bearing upon
the subjects, I consented to assist in this work. The vol-
umes, thus presented, will be as near as possible as Mr.
Otis himself would "have presented them in his latter years,
and will constitute an enduring monument to his memory.
1 may, I trust, be permitted to say, that I have endeavored
to perform my duty in an unobtrusive and friendly way,
erasing some passages of temporary importance reflecting
upon contemporaries ; correcting a few verbal slips of style
and expression ; and adding an occasional explanatory note,
sometimes with, but generally without, my initial. It will
thus be apparent that I should not be held responsible for
judgments or conclusions in the text which may be a subject
of controversy, for which, of course, Mr. Otis is alone an-
swerable. Neither would I undertake to vouch for the en-
tire accuracy of all these papers. I can only say that thus
far, by Mr. Otis's own efforts mainly, the series is much
more perfect than when the papers first issued from the
press.
CHARLES F. SWIFT.
INTRODUCTION.
For several years past, I have spent much of my leisure
time in examining records and collecting materials for a his-
tory of my native town. Old age is "creeping on" and I,
find I have done little towards arranging the materials I;
have collected. There are more difficulties to be surmounted
than the casual observer dreams of. Records have been de-,
stnwed, lost, mutilated, — tradition is not to be relied on;
and the truth can only be arrived at by diligent inquiry and
comparison of various records and memorials of the past.
The fact is, the writer of a local history finds himself envi-
roned with difficulties at every step in his progress, and is,
compelled to use such words as perhaps and probably, much
oftener than good taste would seem to require. If the readeri
would be satisfied with facts chronologically arranged, the,
task would not be so difficult, diligence and industry would
soon accomplish it. But something more is required. A
dull monotonous array of facts and figures would soon tire
and disgust all, excepting perhaps a few plodding antiqua-
rians who are never happier than when poring over a black,
letter manuscript. The page to be made readable must be
enlivened with descriptions, narratives and personal anec-
dotes. When writing history, I often feel that I am in the
condition of the children of Israel, when they were required
by their Egyptian taskmasters to make bricks without
straw. Three times I have written the first chapter of a his-
tory of the toAvn of Barnstable, and three times have thrown
the manuscript into the fire. Progressing at. such a rate my
head will be whiter than it now is, before the last chapter is
written.
My friends are constantly urging me to do something
and not let the materials I have collected be lost, and I have
AUTHORS INTRODUCTION. 11
decided to write a series of "Family Sketches," like those
of Mr. Deane in his history of Scituate. These sketches,
though far from being accurate, are the most interesting por-
tion of his work. As a general rule, I do not intend that
each number shall occupy more than a column and a half.
To give a full history of some of the families, namely, that
of Hinckley, Crocker, Otis, Lothrop, Bacon, and a few
others would require a volume. These will necessarily be
longer ; but a sketch of some of the families need occupy
only a few paragraphs.
I shall write them in an alphabetical series, beginning
with the Allyn family. That there will not be a thousand
mistakes, and omissions in each, I would not dare to affirm ;
but there is one thing I will venture to assert, I can point
out more deficiences in them than any other living man. I
desire, however, that persons having additional information,
or the means of correcting any error into which I may have
fallen would communicate the same. I presume there are
many documents preserved in family archives which would
afford me valuable aid, in the work I have undertaken, and
it would give me much satisfaction, if the owners would loan
me the same or furnish copies.
In giving a genealogical account of the families, nearly all
the facts in relation to the history of the town will have to
be given. In the Allyn family, I give some account of the
original laying out of the town ; in the Lothrop family a
history of the first church, and in other families where the
ancestor was the leading man in any enterprise, the history
of that work cannot well be omitted. In this manner nearly
all the principal events in the history of the town will pass
in review, and such consideration be given to them as time,
space or opportunity will admit.
I make no promises — I claim no immunity from criticism.
I may get tired, before writing one-half of the proposed sixty
columns, and it may be that the publisher will get sick of
his bargain even before that time. To those who take no
interest in genealogy, I have only one remark to make. My
ancient friend and schoolmaster, Dea. Joseph Hawes, would
often say he was a skiptic, that is, if he met with an article
in a book or newspaper that did not please him he "skipt
over it."
I have one more suggestion to make. I would recommend
Ill author's introduction.
to those who do take an interest in these articles to cut them
out and paste them into a scrap book leaving on each j^age
a wide margin for corrections, additions and notes. To
those who take less interest in the matter, I would suggest
that they cut out the article in relation to their own families
and paste at least the genealogical portion, on the fly leaf of
their family bibles : — their grand-children may take an in-
terest in the subject if they do not.
AMOS OTIS.
Yarmouth, Nov. 15, 1861.
INDEX TO FAMILIES.
ALLYN,
Page 5
AliWABLE.
13
BACOIiT,
21
BACHILER,
S9
BASSET,
45
•-BEARSE,
82
BAKER,
68
BARKER,
64
BORDEN,
64
BODFISH,
68
BLOSSOM,
75
BOURMAN,
80
BUMPAS,
85
BETTS,
,88
BLUSH,
89
BLACKFORD, .
99
BOURNE,
104
it.
140
BURSLEY,
137
BERRY,
136
BENJAMIN,
143
BUTLER,
144
BATES,
145
BRYANT,
146
CARSELY,
147
CHAPMAN,
151
CHIPMAN,
153
COBB,
166
CLAGHORN,
180
CHILD,
183
COGGIN, . . . .
189
COOPER, . . . ,
192
INDEX TO FAMILIES.
COLEMAN,
Page 195
cro(;ker,
200
CLAP,
249
CAMMET,
. 249
COTELLE,
250
CANNON,
250
CUDWOKTH,
252
DAVIS,
276
DELAP,
304
DEXTEE,
315
DEAN,
327
DIMMOCK,
328
DYER,
3+6
DUNHAM,
346
DICKENSON,
347
DUNN,
348
DOWNS,
349
EASTERBROOKS,
358
EWELL,
359
EWER,
360
FOXWELL,
365
FITZRANDOLPHE,
368
PULLER,
371
FREEMAN,
385
FOSTER,
388
GOODSPEED,
391
GILPIN,
408
GILBERT,
406
GORHAM,
407
GREEN,
445
GARRETT,
449
HALL,
450
HATHAWAY, .
457
HATCH,
461
HALLETT,
473
HAMBLEN,
522
ALLYN.
THOMAS ALLYN.
This name is variously written on the records, Allyn,
AUyne, Allin and Allen ; but the descendants of Mr. Thom-
as Allyn, one of the first settlers in Barnstable, usually write
their name Allyn. He owned a large estate, and was prob-
ably the most wealthy among the first settlers. The date
when he first came over is not ascertained. It appears, by
an aflSdavit made by him March, 1654, on the Plymouth
Colony records, that his ancestors resided not far from Taun-r
ton, in England. His business is not stated ; but he was
probably engaged in trade. It appears by the document
above referred to, that he was in England in 1649, on busi-
ness of his own, and as the agent of "divers friends." This
visit he speaks of as "att my last being in Ould England,"
implying that he had "returned home" more than once after
he first came over.
The records of the laying out of the lands in Barnstable
in 1639 are lost.* The entries made of the lands of Mr.
Allyn furnish the best information we have on the subject.
The house lots contained from six to twelve acres, and were
all laid out on the north side of the highway west of Rendez-
vous Lane. In 1654, Mr. Allen owned six of the original
house lots, namely :
No. 1. Originally Isaac Robinson's contained eight
♦Note. — In respect to these records, I have the following informa-
tion : My Great-Grandfather, Solomon Oliis, was many years Register
of Ppeds. My father informed me that he had heard many inquire for
them, and that his grandfather's uniform answer was, that they were
in early times carried to Plymouth, and were there ' lost hy Are. This
is tradition ; but considering the directness of the testimony, I think it
reliable.
6 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
acres of upland, and the salt marsh, at the north end. It
was bounded westerly by Calves Pasture Lane, northerly
partly by the creek and partly by the land of Tristram Hull,
easterly by the lot formerly Samuel Jackson's, and souther-
ly by the highway. In 1654 the highway was a few rods
farther south, at this place, than at the present time. Mr.
Charles Hinckley is the present owner of this lot.
No. 2. Was laid out to Samuel Jackson, who returned
to Scituate in 1647. He sold it to Samuel Mayo, who sold
the same to Mr. Allyn. This lot contained eight acres of
upland, and the marsh at the north end. It was bounded
westerly by Lot No. 1, north by the harbor, easterly by the
highway (now discontinued) leading to Allyn's Creek, and
southerly by the highway. This lot is now owned by de-
scendants of Mr. Allyn.
No. 3. Was laid out to Mr. Allyn, and contained ten
acres of upland, with the marsh adjoining, and was bounded
west by Allyn's Lane or highway to the creek, north by the
harbor, east by the house lot of Rev. Joseph Hull, and
southerly by the present highway. This land is owned by
Capt. Matthias Hinckley.
No. 4. Contained twelve acres of upland and the marsh
adjoining, bounded on the west by Lot No. 3, north by the
harbor, easterly by the lot of the Eev. John Mayo, and
southerly by the present highway. On this lot Rev. Mr.
Hull built his house in 1639, afterwards occupied by his son-
in-law, Mr. John Bursley, and sold to Mr. Allyn about the
year 1650. The first Meeting House stood in the ancient
grave yard on the opposite side of the road. This land is
now owned by Capt. Matthias Hinckley. Capt. Thomas
Harris perhaps owns a small portion of it.
No. 5, containing twelve acres of upland, more or less,
with the meadow adjoining, was the Rev. John Mayo's be-
fore his removal in 1646 to Eastham. It was bounded west-
erly by Lot No. 4, north by the harbor, easterly by the lot
that was John Casly's, and southerly by the highway. The
lot is now owned by Capt. Thomas Harris.
No. 6, contained ten acres of upland and the meadow
adjoining. It was laid out to John Casly and by him sold
to Samuel Mayo and by the latter to Mr. Allyn. It was
bounded westerly by Lot 5, north by the harbor, east by a
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 7
Jot owned in 1654 by Tristram Hull,* and south by the
highway.
Beside his house lots, he owned meadow at Sandy
Neck, and in 1647 owned the land on the north of the Hal-
lett Farm, adjoining the bounds of Yarmouth. Besides the
above he had rights in the common lands, and other large
tracts. He sold at one time 100 acres to Koger Groodspeed.
Mr. Allyn's house lots, with the lots named in the note,
constituted the central portion of the village as originally
laid out. On the west probably in the order named, were
the lots of Gov. Hinckley, Samuel Hinckley, Gen. Cud-
worth, James Hamblen, Lawrence Litchfield, Henry Goggin,
(on the west of Goggin's Pond) Henry Bourne, William
Crocker, Austin Bearse, John Cooper, Thomas Hatch, Rob-
ert Sheley, William Betts, Henry Coxwell, Dollar Davis,
John Crocker,. Thomas Shaw, Abraham Blish, and Anthony
Annable. The farm of the latter is now owned by Nathan
Jenkins,
On the east of Rendezvous Lane, Mr. John Lothrop,
John Hall, Henry Rowley, Isaac Wells, John Smith, Geo.
Lewis, Edward Fittsrandle, (Lot on west side of the road
to Hyannis) Bernard Lumbard, Roger Goodspeed, (Henry
Cobb, Thomas Huckins, John Scudder, Samuel Mayo,)
Nathaniel Bacon, Richard Foxwell, Thomas Dimmock.
Isaac Davis' house stands near where the Old Dimmock
house stood. The Agricultural Hall stands on Foxwell's
land.
Mr. Allyn was not much in public life. March 1,
1641-2 he WHS propounded to be a freeman of the Plymouth
Colony, admitted 1652 ; in 1644, 1651 and 1658 he was
*N0TE. — In 1647 the highway run on a straight Ihie from Mr. John
Burseley's corner to the head of Rendezvous Lane. In 1686 when the
present road was laid out, the ancient road was followed as far as
Jail Hill when it was turned to the northeast through the lands of
Capt. Joseph Lothrop. I am inclined to the opinion that the ancient
road was on the south of the swamp and joined the present road where
the first court house stood, on the east of the Sturgis tavern. Joseph
Hull, son of Tristram, sold Lot No 7 in 1678 to John Lothrop. Thomas
Annable, Doctor Abner Hersey, Isaiah Hinckley, and Elijah Crocker
have since owned it. No. 8, 6 acres, was Wm. Casly's lot, afterwards
Hon. Barnabas Lothrop's; No. 9, 10 acres, was Robert Lynnell's. No.
10, 12 acres, Thomas Lombard's lot, sold to Thomas Lewis; No. 11. 12
acres, Thomas Lothrop's Land, bounded easterly by Rendezvous Lane,
'^liese Lots embraced the central position of the village as it was orig-
inally laid out.
8 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Surveyor of highways ; in 1648, 1658 and 1670 constable,
and in 1653 a juryman, offices of not much profit or honor.
The Court in passing up and down the County often stopped
at his house, a fact which indicates that he set a gopd table,
and was well supplied with provender for man and beast.
He married for his first wife Winnifred . His
second wife was Wid. . He named in his will, dated
Feb. 28, 1675, proved 5th of March, 1679-80, his daughters-
in-law Sarah, wife of William Clark,
Martha, wife of Benjamin
Kebecca, wife of Samuel Sprague.
He names his sons Samuel and John, his daughter Mehita-
ble Annable, and Samuel's oldest son, Thomas. After dis-
posing of a part of his estate by legacies he ordered the rest
to be equally divided between his three children. He died
in 1679, and was buried in the ancient burying ground,
"Where the forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
Children of Thomas Allyn born in Barnstable:
I. Samuel, born 10 Feb., 1643-4, bap'd 18 Feb., 1643-4.
n. John, born 1646, bap'd 27 Sep., 1646.
HI. Mehitable, born 1648, bap'd 28 Aug., 1648. She
married Samuel Annable June 1, 1667, and had a fam-
ily of four children. She married second May 6, 1683,
Cornelius Briggs of Scituate. She inherited one-third
of her father's estate, Mr. Allyn in his will giving her
an equal portion with her brothers, an unusual circum-
stance in those days.
Mr. Samuel Allyn, son of Thomas, was a freeman in 1670,
constable 1671, called Lieutenant in 1678. He was many
years Town Clerk, and held other responsible offices. He
resided at West Barnstable. In 1686, his house is described
as on the south side of the highway about half of a mile east
of Hinckley's Bridge. He married May 10, 1664, Hannah,
daughter of Eev. Thomas Walley. She died, Tuesday, Oct.
23, 1711, at 10 o'clock, A. M. Her age is not stated. She
was born in England and came over with her father in the
ship Society, Capt. John Pierce, and arrived here May 24,
1662. Mr. Samuel Allyn died Friday, 25th November,
1726, aged 82 years. Mr. Samuel Allyn's will is dated
Nov. 12, 1726, and proved on the 30th of Nov. following.
He gives to his daughter-in-law Sarah, then wife of Deacon
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 9
Samuel Bacon, 40 shillings ; to his grandsons Thomas Allyn
and John Jacobs, and his daughter Hannah Lincoln, 20 shil-
lings each ; to his grandson Samuel Allyn, son of his son
Joseph "only one shilling" ; and to his great-grandson
Thomas, son to his grandson James, 40 shillings. All his
other estate, both real and personal, he devised to his son
Joseph Allyn, to grandson James of Barnstable, to daugh-
.te£ Hannah Jacob, and his grandson Samuel Allyn of Barn-
stable, to be divided equally. His son Joseph and grand-
son James executors. The inventory of the estate is dated
January 4, 1726-7, but the oath of Allyn was refused by the
Judge of Probate "because 1 thought he could not do it with
a safe conscience." Joseph swore to it Feb. 18, 1726-7.
Children of Mr. Samuel Allyn born in Barnstable:
I. Thomas, born 22 March, 1654-5, married Elizabeth,
daughter of Hon. John Otis, 9 Oct., 1688, and had
three children, James, Thomas and Hanna,h. He died
25th Nov., 1696, aged 31. His widow married 20
January, 1699, David Loring of Hingham. She died
in Barnstable, June 17, 1748, aged 79.
tl. Samuel, born 19 January, 1666, married Sarah, daugh-
ter of Edward Taylor, 20 Dec, 1705, and had Samuel,
26 Nov., 1706. The father died Dec, 1706, in the 39th
year of his age. His widow married 26 January, 1708,
Dea. Samuel Bacon. She died Sept. 24, 1753, aged 73.
ni. Joseph, born 7 April, 1671. He removed from Barn-
stable about the year 1700. He was one of the execu-
tors of the will of his father 1726. He then had a son
Samuel, showing he was married and had a family.
IV. Hannah, born 4 Maroh, 1672-3, married 7 Dec, 1693,
Peter Jacob of Hingham, and had twelve children.
V. Elizabeth, born 26 Nov., 1681, died 23 Dec, 1698,
aged 17.
John Allyn, son of Thomas, married 1673 Mary, daughter
of John Howland.
Children born in Barnstable :
I. Jdhn, bom 3 April, 1674.
n. Mary, born 5 Aiig., 1675 ; died 7 July, 1677.
til. Martha, born 6 Aug., 1677 ; died Oct., 1680.
IV. Isaac, born 8 Nov., 1679.
The facUily of Jdhti Allyii was Aot of Bartistable Janu-
10 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
ary, 1683-4. He had probably removed. There were at
that time so many John Allyns in New England, that in the
absence of records it is difficult to fix the place of his after
residence.
In January, 1693-4, there were in Barnstable and en-
titled to a share in the common lands, being either 24 years
of age, or married, Lieut. Samuel AUyn, eldest son of
Thomas, Sen'r, and Samuel and Thomas, sons of Lieut.
Samuel. January, 1697, Thomas was dead, and Joseph,
youngest son of Lieut. Samuel, was added to the list, he
being then 25 years of age, but in 1703 his name is omitted.
The present Allyn families in Barnstable, are nearly all
descendants of James, son of Thomas, and grandson of
Lieut. Samuel. His house was very ancient, the east part
two stories, and the west one story. It stood on Lot No. 1,
where Charles Hinckley's house now is, and it was taken
down about 50 years ago. He married July 24, 1712,
Susannah Lewis, daughter of Ebenezer. He was 21 and
she 18 at the time of their marriage.
No family in Barnstable could claim to be more respect-
ably connected than this. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth,
born in 1713, married 1732, Col. John Gorham, and re-
moved to Portland. He was a man of note in his day.
Susannah, born 1715, married 1735, Capt. Jonathan Davis,
Jr., a shipmaster. Anna, born 1718, married in 1736,
John Davis, Jr. Thomas, born 1719, married Elizabeth
Sturgis 1752'; Hannah, born 1721, married 1743, Doctor
Abner Hersey, an eminent physician, but most eccentric
man; Rebecca, born 1723, married 1742Rev. Josiah Crock-
er of Taunton ; Abigail, born 1725, (an Abia Allin married
Seth Cushman of Dartmouth ;) Mary, born 1727, married
1751, Nymphas Marston, Esq. ; James, born 1729, married
1752, Lydia Marston ; Sarah, borri 1730, married 1755,
Mr. Justin Hubbard, of Hingham ; Martha, born 1733, died
1740; Olive, born 1735, married 1754, Capt. Samuel Stur-
gis, Jr.
At a family meeting' almost every profession in life
would have been honorably represente.d- Mr. AHyn , him-
self had a suit of armor, and two of bis sons-in-law had done
good service for thpir country on the fiejld of battle, so that
the military element would have, been strongly represented ;
the legal profession by two ; divinity by one, ftnd meiiicine
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 11
by that strange, compound, Doctor Hersey, perhaps in his
usual winter dress — cowhide boots, baize shirt, red cap and
leather great coat.
Mr. James Allyn died Oct. 8, 1741, (his grave stones
say 1742,) aged 50 years, and his widow Susannah Oct. 4,
1753, aged 59. In his will, proved Nov. 11, 1741, he pro-
vides liberally for the support of his wife and younger chil-
dren. To his daughters, who had not already had their por-
tion, £30 each, and to his son James £150. To his son
Tborai'.s he gave his cane, marked with his grandfather's
name, his armor, valued at £16.10., and all his warlike
weapons and appurtenances, his hooks, excepting his Great
Bible, his "dwelling house from top to bottom," tools and
stock belonging to a saddler's trade, &c., &c. His estate
was appraised at £3.091. 19. 4, a large estate in those
times.
Thomas was a saddler by trade. His house stood where
Mr. Charles Hinckley's now does. His children were Polly,
Hannah, Susan and Samuel.
James* was a cabinet maker. He resided in the old
Allyn house now standing. His children were James, Ben-
jamin, two named Marston, who died young, Thomas, Nym-
phas, who died young, and John, who was educated at
Harvard College, graduated in 1775, and was afterwards
pastor of the church at Duxbury.
Mr. Thomas Allyn has very few descendants in the
male line now living in Barnstable. Whether or not his son
John and grandson Joseph, who removed early from Barn-
stable, were the ancestors of niore proliiic races I cannot say.
The first inhabitants selected the beautiful sweep of high
land between Rendezvous Creek and Cogo^en's Pond as the
seat of their town, the principal men built houses there, but
*Mrs. Chloe Blish, now aged 95, relates the following witch story
in relation to Jame? Allyn. She lived at the time in Gov. Hinckley's
hou?e, on the opposite side of the road:
Lydia Ellis, a daughter of Lizzy Towerhill, (a reputed witch, of
whom I have given an account,) resided in the family of Mr. Allyn as
a servant. Lizzy took offence at the treatment of her daughter, and
threatened vengeance. A night or two after, a strange cat appeared
in Mr. AUyn's house, mewing and caterwauling — unseen hands upset
or turned bottom upwards every thing in the house. Six new chairs,
brought in the day before, were broke to pieces and destroyed. The
inmates were kept awake all night, and for a long time after, strange
noises were heard, at times, in the liouse, and the peace of the family
greatly disturbed.
12 GENKALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
in less than fifteen years half the lots belonged to Mr. All^'n
and the houses had been abandoned or removed. In select-
ing that location for the centre of the town, one fact was
overlooked : no water conld be procured without sinking
wells to a great depth. They soon were compelled to re-
move to situations near to ponds or springs of water.
JOHN ALLEN.
Mr. Baylies in his history states that John Allen re-
moved from Scituate to Barnstable in 1649, arid Mr. Deane
in his history of Scituate, says he probably removed from
Barnstable to Scituate in 1645. He appears to have been of
Plymouth in 1633 and of Scituate in 1646, where he died in
1662. His widow was named Ann and he had a son John.
John Allen of Barnstable was another man. Perhaps
he was the John who was taxed at Springfield in 1639, re-
moved soon after perhaps to Rehoboth 1645, and to New-
port 1650 and thence to Swansey in 1669. He married Oct.
10, 1650, Elizabeth Bacon of Barnstable, probable a sister
of Samuel. Allen and his wife were both ana-baptists, yet
no objection was made to their marriage, Gov. Hinckley
oflSciating at the nuptials. To this fact I shall have occasion
hereafter to refer. From Barnstable they went to Newport,
E. I. , and there had Elizabeth, born July, 1651.; Mary,
Feb. 4, 1653 ; John, Nov., 1654;Mercey, Dec, 1656;
Priscilla, Dec, 1659, and Samuel, April, 1661.
ANN ABLE
ANTHONY ANNABLE,
One ot the forefathers, came over in the Ann in 1623, bring-
ing with him his wife, Jane, and his daughter Sarah. He
remained in Plymouth till 1634 when he removed to Scitu-
ate, and was one of the founders of that town and of the
church there. In 1640 he removed to Barnstable. With
the exception of Gov. Thomas Hinckley, no Barnstable man
was oftener employed in the transaction of public business.
He joined Mr. Lothrop's church at its organization, January
y, 1634-5, was always an exemplary member, yet he was
never dignitied with the title of "Mr." and was all his life
called "Goodman Annable." That a man who was "most
useful in church and state," thirteen years a deputj'^ to the
Colony Court, on a committee to revise the laws, frequently
employed in most important and difficult negotiations, apd
one of the 58 {)urchasers, was not thought worthy of that
dignity may seem strange to modern readers. In the Ply-
mouth Colony, the governor, deputy governor, and magis-
trates and assistants ; the ministers of the gospel and elders
of the church, school-masters, commissioned officers in the
militia, men of great wealth, or men connected with the fam-
ilies of the gentry of nobility, alone were entitled to be
called mister and their wives mistress. This rule was rigidly
enforced in earl}^ colonial times, and in all lists of names, it
was almost the invariable custom, to commence with those
who stood highest in rank and follow that order to the end.
Goodman Annable had four acres of land alloted to him
in the division of lands in 1623, to those who "came over
in the shipe called the Anne." At the division of the cattle
in 1627, there had been no increase in the number of his
family, it then consisted of four, namely, himself, his wife
14 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Jane and daughters Sarah and Hannah. His name appears
in the earliest list of freemen, made in 1633, and in that
year he was taxed £0. 18., and in the following year 9 shil-
lings. Comparing these figures with the other taxes, it ap-
pears that he was then a man to whom the petition in Agur's
prayer, "give me neither poverty nor riches," might well
apply. Oct. 1, 1634, he was elected a member to treat
with the partners for the colony trade, and the next January
he was chosen constable of Scituate. Oct. 4, 1636, Good-
man Annable and James Cudworth were a committee from
the town of Scituate to assist in the revision of the laws of
the colony. He was a juryman that year and in 1638.
March 6, 1637-8 he was again chosen constable of Scituate.
In January of that year the Eev. John Lothrop, Mr. Timo-
thy Hatherly, Goodman Annable and others of Scituate,
rej)re8ented to the Court that they had small portions of
land, and petitioned to have the lands set off to them, be-
tween the North and South rivers, which was granted.
In 1638 and 9 many meetings were held in Scituate to
adopt measures respecting a removal to another plantation.
Five days were set apart for humiliation, fasting and prayer
for success in their removal. The first fast was kept Feb.
22, 1637-8, and the last June 26, 1639. Several letters
signed by Mr. Lothrop, Goodman Annable and others in
behalf of themselves and other members of the church, ad-
dressed to the governor, stating the grievances under which
they were suffering, and asking to be better accommodated
in some other part of the colony. At first they proposed to
remove to Sippican, now Rochester, and at the January
Court the lands at that place were granted to them. But
many were opposed to going to Sippicau, preferring a resi-
dence at Mattakeese, now a part of Barnstable. But the
lands at the latter place had previously been granted to Mr.
Richard Collicut and others of Dorchester ; but in June,
1639, this grant was revoked and an opening was made for
Ml'. Lothrop and his church. In the previous May Rev.
Joseph Hull of Weymouth, and Mr. Thomas Dimmock and
others romoved to Mattakeese, and commenced the settle-
ment of the town. After the revocation of the grant to Mr.
Collicut, the Court, June 4, 1639,* O. S.. corresponding to
*The centennial celebration of the 200th anniversary of the town
was held September 3, 1839, why and wherefore I cannot explain.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAllNSTABLE FAMILIES. 15
June 14, new style, granted the lands at Mattakeese to
Messrs. Hull and Dimmock as a committee for themselves
and their associates, and incorporated the town, naming it
Barnstable. June 13, 1639, O. S., a fast was kept by Mr.
Lothrop's chui-ch to implore "God's directing and providing
for us in the place of removal," and on the 2t)th of the same
month another fast was kept "For the presence of God in
mercey to goe with us to Mattakeese."
i\Ir. Lothrop and a majority of his church removed
from Scituate to Barnstable Oct. "ll, 1639, O. S. (Oct. 21,
N. S.). On their arrival, the tirst settlers had built them-
selves houses, any many of Mr. Lothrop's church found
dwellings provided for them on their arrival. Goodman
Annable did not remove with the first company, but some
few months after.
He was a member of the first General Court held in
1639, also in 1640, '41, '42, '43, '44, '45, '47, '50, '51, '53,
'56 and '57. He was not a member when the obnoxious
laws against Quakers were enacted.
In 1643 he was appointed by the Court a member of a
committee to provide places of defence against any hostile
attack of the Indians, and in 1645 "to propose laws to re-
dress present abuses, and to prevent future."
In 1646 he was on a committee of one from each town
in the colony, "to consider a wav of defraying the charges
of the magistrate's tables by way of excise on wine and
other things." In 1661 he is named as one of the grantees
of the lands in Suck&nesset, now Falmouth, and in 1662
land was granted to his daughter Hannah, one of the first
born children in the colony, and in 1669 a tract of land was
granted to him on Taunton River, near Titicut.
I do not find that Goodman Annable had a houselot as-
signed to him in the village. He settled at West Barnstable
on the farm now owned l)y Nathan Jenkins, Esq. It is thus
described on the record :
1. Forty acres of upland, be it more or less, butting
northerly by the marsh, southerly by yc commons, bounded
easterly by Goodman Blush, westerly b}' Goodman Bhish.
2. Twenty-two acres of marsh butting southerly, partly
upon his own and partly upon Gdd. Blush's upland, bound-
ed (^'istorlv partlv upon ye creek botweon Goodman Wrlls
16 GENEALOGICAL .NOTJitt OF BAK^STABLE FAMILIES.
and him, and partly by ye oomuions, westerly liy (jdd.
Blush, northerly by ye commons.
3. Fifteen acres more or less of swamp bounded east-
erly by Gdd. Blush, westerly by Gdd. Bowmans, southerly
by ye commons, northerly partly by Gdd. Blush and partly
by Gdd. Bowmans.
This is one of the best farms in Barnstable. His land
was principally on the north side of the present County
road. Fifty-four acres were afterwards added to this farm,
extending to Annable's Pond on the south.
Goodman Annable died in 1674, and his widow Ann
administered on his estate. His age is not recorded, he
was probably 75 years old. His widow Ann was living in
1677 when she was lined £1 for selling beer without a li-
cense. In 1686 she is spoken of as recently deceased. She
is called "the agad widow Annible" in 1678, and was prob-
ably nearly 80 years of age at the time of her death.
Gdd. Annable resided in the Colony iifty and one
years. He was a puritan of the school of blessed John Rob-
inson, neither bigoted nor intolerant. Sympathizing iu
feeling with Cud worth, Hatheriy and other leading men of
the tolerant party — an opponent of the harsh measures, and
bloody laws enacted and enforced against Quakers and ana-
baptists in the Massachusetts Colony, and adopted in the
Plymouth Colony in 1653, but never enforced in Barnsta-
ble. His moral character was unimpeachable. He was
never a party to a law suit, and only in one instance en-
gaged in any controversy with his neighbors. In 1664, he
Avas presented for removing a land-mark. The Court after
a full investigation of the charge, decided that he was blame-
able for removing the boundary ; but being convinced that
he did not willfully intend to do wrong, the complaint was
dismissed.
Intellectually Goodman Annable had many superiors in
the Colony. He was a man of sound judgment, discreet,
cautious, — never acting hastily or unadvisedly, a good
neighbor, a useful man, and one who exhibited in his daily
walk, his Christian character.
His descendants for several generations inherited from
him, to some extent, the same excellent traits of character.
None of them were brilliant men ; but I have never heard
of an Annable who was convicted of crime or who was a bad
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 17
neighbor. There were not manj' of this name who came over.
There was a John at Ipswich in 1642, a tailor, and a Mat-
thew at Newbury aged 18, 1672. Goodman Annable uni-
formly wrote his name as it is now written ; but it occurs
also on the records written Annible, Anible, Anniball and
Anable.
The following account of his family differs from that
given either by Mr. Ueane or by Mr. Savage. The latter
in attempting to correct the errors of the former, made
greater mistakes himself, 1 have carefully examined all ac-
cessible records, and have not varied from these gentlemen
only on evidence which appears entirely conclusive. I am
aware that my account is defective, all I claim is that it is
fuller and has a less number of mistakes in it than those
which have been published :
Anthony Annable came over in the Ann in 1623, bring-
ing with him his wife Jane and his daughter Sarah. Mr.
Savage says daughters Sarah and Hannah. On the list of
the first born in Plymouth is Hannah, daughter of Anthony
Annable. A grant of land was afterwards made to her in
virtue of her right as one of the first born. No stronger
evidence of a fact can be adduced. The members of the
Court knew that Hannah Annable was born in Plymouth,
otherwise they would not have made the grant.
Mr. Savage says Susannah was jjrobably born in Barn-
stable. If so she was very young when she married on the
13th of May, 1652, William Hatch, Jr., of Scituate.
His first wife, Jane, died in Barnstable, and was buried
Dec. 13, 1643, on the Lower side of the Calves Pasture.
The exact locality of her grave is not known ; but is proba-
bly at a place called Hemp Bottom. He married, March 3,
1644-5, his second wife, Ann Clark. There are three sever-
al entries of this marriage, two on the Plymouth and one on
the Barnstable town records. The entr}' in the 'Court
Orders" (vol. 2, page 80, of the printed volumes) is the
only one that can be cnlled an original record, the other two
are copies, and the transcriber evidently made a mistake of
one year in the date. The chirography of the entry on the
"Court Orders" is very obscure. The late Judge Mitchell,
who was familiar with the records, having spent his leisure
time for several years in their examination, copied the name
"Ann Clark." Mr. Pulsifer and Doctor Shurtleff, gentle-
18 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
men equally distinguished for their skill in deciphering an-
cient manuscripts, read the name Ann Elocke. I prefer the
reading of Judge Mitchell.
Mr. Savage adds : "The second wife was buried 1 6th of
May, 1651, and he married soon third wife, Ann Barker, by
whom he had Desire, 11th Oct , 1653, and the wife was
buried about 16th March, 1658." Mr. Savage or his aman-
uensis has strangely mixed up in the passage quoted, facts
in relation to the families of Anthony Annable and Abra-
ham Blish. They were both good neighbors, very kind and
accommodating to each other, but I doubt whether they ever
swapped wives,* as the passage quoted indicates.
Family of Anthony Annable by his wife Jane — born in
England:
I. Sarah, born about 1622, married Nov. 22, 1638, by
Mr. Winslow, at Green's Harbor, to Henry Ewell of
Scituate. She died in 1687, leaving a family.
Born in Plymouth :
n. Hannah, born about 1625, being his first born child,
after his arrival. She married, March 10, 1644-5,
Thomas Bowman of Barnstable,
ni. Susannah, born about 1630, married 13th May, 1652,
Wm. Hatch, Jr., of Scituate.
Born in /Scituate:
IV. A daughter stillborn, buried 8th April, 1635.
V. Deborah, baptized May 7, 1637.
By his second wife, Ann Clark, born in Barnstable:
VI. Samuel, born January 22, bap'd Feb. 8, 1645-6, mar-
ried, June 1, 1667, Mehitable AUyn, died 1678, aged
32.
VII. Esek, (or Ezekiel) bap'd 29th April, 1649, probably
died young.
VIII. Desire, bap'd 16th Oct., 1653, married January 18,
1676-7, John Barker, Esq., died at Scituate July 24,
1706.
Samuel Annable married June 1, 1667, Mehitable,
*NOTE.— Mr. Savage will put this matter right in his fourth vol-
ume, soon to be published. That he has made so few mistakes is won-
derful. The late Capt. Isaac Bacon, Sen., said he wished it was the
fashion to swap wives, as it was old horses— he would cheat somebody
most d nably.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 19
dauffliter of Mr. Thomas Allyn of Barnstable. He resided
at West Barnstable, and inherited a large portion of the es-
tate of his father, whom he survived only four years, dying
in the year 1678, aged 32. His widow married, May 6,
1683, Cornelius Briggs of Scituate.
Family 0/ iSamuel Annable:
I. Samuel, born 14th July, 1669, married Patience Dog-
get, April 11, 1695, and had Desire, 3d Jan'y, 1695;
Anna, 27th Sept., 1697, married, Aug. 19th, 1720,
Nathaniel Bacon; Jane, 24th Dec, 1699, married Oct.
8th, 1719, Dea. Kobert Davis; Samuel, 14th January,
1702 ; Patience, 15th May, 1705, married Joseph Ba-
con, 1722 ; Thomas, 21st June, 1708, married Ann
Gorham Aug. 7th, 1740. The father died June 21st,
1744, and his widow Patience, Oct. 11th, 1760, aged
90 years.
n. Hannah, born March, 1672, liied August following.
III. John, born 19th July, 1673, married June 16th, 1692,
Experience, daughter of Edward Taylor, and had Sam-
uel, born 3d Sept., 1693 ; Mehitable, 28th Sept., 1695,
married, July 23d, 1713, Andrew Hallet, died Oct.
23d, 1767 ; John, born April, 1697, died May follow-
ing ; John, born 3d May, "1698, removed to Rochester ;
Mary, born Dec, 1701, married David Hallet Aug.
19th, 1720; Cornelius, born 3d November, 1704, and
Abigail, born 30th April, 1710, married Oct. 22d,
1730, Wally Crocker.
IV. Anna, born 4th March, 1675-6, married Oct. 14th,
1696, Dea. John Barker. She died March 21st, 1732-
3, "aged near 57 years," and is buried at West Barn-
stable.
The estate of Samuel Annable, deceased, included the
farm of his father, then in possession of his mother, and the
fifty-four acres on the south side of the highway which he
held in his own right by a grant from the town, and the es-
tate which his wife held in her right, by gift from her father,
was settled, by order of the Court, Oct. 30, 1678, as fol-
lows :
"The seate of land which was formerly Mr. Thomas
Allyn's" at Barnstable, was settled upon Samuel, the eldest
son, he paying to his sister Anna £25, one-half in current
20 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
silver money of New England, and the other half in "cur-
rent pay att prise current" within two years after he become
of age.
To John Annable, the youngest son, the farm that the
''aged widdow Annible hath her life in, and now liveth on ;
which was pte of the lands which formerly Anthony Anni-
ble lived on," he to pay his sister £25, one-half in current
silver money of New England, and one-half in current pay,
within two years after he becomes of age.
To the widow Mehitable Annable was assigned all the
moveables and all the stock, "to be att her own dispose for-
and towards the bringing up of the childien, hopeing that
shee will have a care to bringe them up in a way of educa-
tion as the estate will beare, and to have all the proffitts of
all the lands untill the said Samuel Annible and John Anni-
ble comes to be of age, and then the third in the proffitts of
the land during her natural life."
In 1703 there were only two of the family, Samuel and
John, in Barnstable entitled to a share in the common lands.
The West Barnstable family disappeared many years ago,
some removed to Rochester and some to other places, and
the ancient farm is now owned by strangers. The Barnsta-
ble family eighty years ago •^as numerous, wealthy and in-
fluential,^now there is not a solitary voter of the name in
the town. The family has dwindled down, and almost be-
come extinct. There are a few of the descendants of An-
thonj' Annable in Boston, and in other places. The last
parcel of the Annable farm (formerly Mr. Thomas Allyn)
was sold out of the family the present year (1861), smd
there is no memorial of the family, now remaining in Barn-
stable, save the monuments in the giave yards which mark
the places of their sepulchres.
BACON,
NATHANIEL BACON.
To write a genealogical memoir of Nathaniel Bacon and
his descendants would require a volume. I shall not attempt
it. Among the many of the name who came over early,
were Nathaniel and Samuel, supposed to be brothers, and
Elizabeth, probably a sister, all of whom settled in Barnsta-
ble.* Michael of Dedham, who has numerous descendants
probably came from Ireland. William of Salem, who mar-
ried Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Potter, mayor of Coven-
try, had resided in Dublin. On the outbreak of the Irish
rebellion, she was sent over to this country, and her husband
followed soon after. Andrew who was early of Cambridge,
and one of the magistrates at Hartford, 1637, and died at
Hadley 1669, probably came from Rutlandshire, England.
He has no descendants in the male line, his son Isaac having
died young. Nathaniel Bacon of Middietown, was a neph-
ew of Andrew and a son of William of Stretton, Rutland
County, England. The Bacons of Connecticut were prom-
inent men, and the prevalence of the same names in the
Connecticut and Barnstable indicates a community of origin.
Mr. Nathaniel Bacon was one of the first settlers, and the
house lot assigned to him, is now owned by his descendants.
Without a plan, it will be difficult to state intelligibly, the
manner in which the lots in the vicinity of the Meeting
House in the East Parish were laid out. The locations of
*Mr. Savajre in commenting on the evidence given in 1661 by
Dea jolin Fletcher of IMill'oril, Conn., relative to the ancestry of Na-
thaniel Bacon, of M,iddletown, remarks that it "might without vio-
lence be construed to refer equally to the Barnstable family, though it
is leSvS probable." It it very much "less probable." The affidavits of
Dea. Fletcher and some others were talsen at New Haven, before Na-
thaniel Bacon, Esq , and tliey state distinctly that "Nathaniel Bacon
then present, was the oldest son of William Bacon, "&c. The abstracts
nt thuap. affidavits ffiven bv_Hinman. are wanting in clearness, and
^ge.
22 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
all the roads, excepting that to Hyannis, anciently Baker's
Lane, have been changed, and the ancient boundaries on the
dividing lines between the lots have mostly been removed.
As early as 1653, nearly all the land in this neighborhood
had changed ownership. The present county I'oad, proba-
bly passed on the south of Mr. James Lewis' house, now
owned by Frederick W. Crocker, Esq. When the town
was settled, the present county road, from the Meeting
House to Baker's Lane, was a deep gully, impassable for
teams. When the present road was laid out in 1686 it was
located "up Cobb's Hill" through this gully. The "Old
Mill Way" joined the county road on the east of the Meet-
ing House, the gate at the entrance standing north of the
town pound. From this point the "Old Mill Way" extend-
ed north to the Mill Pond, and thence across the ancient
causeway sometimes called Blushe's bridge, to the Common
Field. The ends of the house lots butted on Mill Way not
on the county road. Beginning at the south the first lot
on west side was Roger Goodspeed's. His house stood on
this lot in 1649, but in 1653, he had surrendered it to the
town and taken other lands in exchange. The Meeting
House on Cobb's Hill and the lands now occupied for bury-
ing grounds were included in this lot.
The second lot on the north of Goodspeed's contained
seven acres, and was set off to Elder Henry Cobb.
The third lot containing six acres was laid out to Thomas
Huckins by an order of the town dated 14th Sep. 1640.
The tourth lot, where the late Dea. Joseph Chipman re-
sided, was Dolar and Nicholas Davis.
On the east of the "Mill Way" the first lot was Mr. Na-
thaniel Bacon's, bounded south by the county road, west by
Roger Goodspeed and the Mill Way, north (^in 1654) by
Goodman Cobb, and east partly by Goodman Cobb, and
pi»rtly by Goodman Foxwell's land. At the settlement of
the town the land on the north of the Bacon house lot was a
dense swamp, unfit for cultivation, or building purposes.
It contained some valuable timber and was reserved as town
commons. It was subsequently granted in small lots to
Goodman Cobb, John Davis and others, and subsequently
bought by the Bacon family. The land between the swamp
and mill pond, on the east of the Way was mostly owned by.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 23
Dolar Davis who sold it to Abraham Blish in 1657, who
afterwards sold it to the Bacons.
Mr. Bacon owned sixteen acres of land in the old Com-
mon Field, a name still retained and eleven acres in the new
Common Field.* He also owned the house lot and land
now owned by Frederick Cobb, containing twelve acres,
"bounded northerly by the highway, westerly by the road
running into ye woods, 80 rods, easterly by Goodman Fox-
well." Also four acres bought of Henry Taylor, "bounded
southerly by ye highway, northerly by Mr. Dimmock's
marsh, easterly partly by Mr. Dimmock and partly by John
Scudder's upland, westerly by Nicolas Davis."
In addition to these lots he owned thirty-two acres of land
and meadow at Cotuit, meadows in the mill pond and at
Sand}^ Neck, and other tracts of land and rights in the com-
mons.
Mr. Bacon was a tanner and currier. He had vats in the
low grounds near his house. As there were other tanneries
in town, it is probable that he worked at his trade in the
winter and was employed in the cultivation of his lands the
remainder of the year. During the latter part of his life,
his public duties absorbed a large part of his time.
He built his house in the year 1642. It was taken down
about thirty-five years ago and the old oak timber was as
sound and as hard as when cut from the forest. It was two
stories high, and built in the style then common. It was
about 22 feet in the front and 26 feet in the rear. The
lower story was divided into three rooms. The front room
was 16 feet square, low in the walls with a large summer
beam across the centre overhead. The bedroom floor was
elevated two feet above the other floors to give more height
to the cellar under it. The kitchen was very small. The
second story, which was very low in the wall, was divided
into three rooms corresponding in size with those in the
lower story. The chimney was of stone, few if. any bricks
had then been made in the Colony. The fire place in the
*The Old Commou Field extended from Blushes Point to the west
Waterintc place, bounded north by the harbor, and south by the mill
pond. The name is a free translation of the Indian name Mattakeese
which means ''old" or "worn out planting lands." The new Com-
mon Field extended from the V\est Watering place to the bounds of
Yarmouth, bounded norib by the harbor, and south by the County
Rnqd. and included the Indian reservation.
24 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAEKSTABLE FAMILIES.
front room was eight feet wide, four feet deep, and the n^an-
tle laid high, so that a tall person could walk under it by
stooping a little. The oven was often built on the outside
of the house with the mouth opening in one corner on the
back side of the lire place. The fire was built in the centre,
and on a cold winter evening a seat in the chimney corner was
a luxury unknown in modern times. The fire place in the
kitchen was necessarily smaller, in a house of this construc-
tion, especially when the oven opened into it. There was
usually a fire place in the front chamber. The windows
were small and oiled paper was used instead of glass in many
houses. The successive occupants of this house, altered
and enlarged it so many times, that in 1825 it was entirely
unlike the original. The height of the rooms had been in-
creased, by lengthening the posts three feet, — a large addi-
tion had been put on the west, and several on the rear.
So that it covered more than four times as much ground a^
at first.
Mr. Bacon was proposed as a freeman in June 1645 and
admitted June 1646. In 1650 he was constable of the town
of Barnstable, and a deputy to the Colony Court thirteen
years from 1652 to 1665. In 1657 he was chosen an assist-
ant and was re-elected annually till his death in 1673. In
1658 and 1667 he was a member of the council of war. He
frequently served on committees appointed hy the Court,
and was a prominent and influential man in the Colony.
It would be instructive and interesting to trace step by
step the progress of Mr. Bacon through life. He came to
Barnstable a young man, comparatively poor, without
friends to assist him, and without the advantages of a o-ood
education ; but a good moral character, good business habits,
energy and industry more than compensated for the want of
these advantages. He died Oct. 1673, probably not 60
years of age. His widow survived him many years. She
was living in 1691.
I do not find his will on record ; he probably made none.
The inventory of his estate, appraised at £632, 10. 2, is
dated Oct 29, 1673, sworn to by his widow Mistress Han-
nah Bacon, and letters of administration granted to her.
On the 4th of March following "Mr. Thomas Hinckley, Mr.
Thomas Walley, William Crocker, John Thompson, and
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 25
Thomas Huckins were appointed by the Court to settle the
estate of Mr. Nathaniel Bacon deceased, among Mrs. Han-
nah Bacon and her children, which settlement under their
hands, or any three of their hands, shall be accompted
against all claims, or contentions at any time arising about
the aforesaid estate or any pai-t thereof."
Nathaniel Bacon married Dec. 4, 1642, Miss Hannah,
daughter of the Rev. John Mayo,then teacher of the church
in Barnstable,
Children Born in Barnstable.
I. Hannah, burn Sept. 4, 1643, bap'd 8th Dec. 1644. She
married Mr. Thomas Walley, Jr., son of Rev. Thomas
Walley of Barnstable, and had one son Thomas, who
died leaving no issue ; and daughters, Hannah, who
m. iirsi, Wm Stone, and had two dau's ; second, James
Leonard, by whom she had Lydia who m. Thomas
Cobb ; and Elizabeth, who m. Edward Adams, Hannah
m. Feb.16,1675, her second husband Rev. George Shove
of Taunton, and had Mary Aug 11, 1676, Johanna
Sept. 28, 1678; Edward Oct. 3, 1680, and Mercy May
1682. She is named as one of the "remote members"
of the Barnstable church in 1683. She died in Taun-
ton Sept. 1685, aged 42 vears.
II. Nathaniel, bap'd i5th Feb. 1645-6.
ni. Mary, born Aug. 12.1648, bap'd 20 Aug. 1648.
IV. Samuel, born Feb. 25, 1650-1.
V. Elizabeth, born Jan'y 28, 1653-4. She died unmarried
in 1676, according to the Plymouth records '-in the
28th year of her age." She was only 21, or at most,
22 years of age. Her estate was settled by agreement
on record.
VI. Jeremiah, born May 8, 1657.
VII. Mercy, born Feb. 28, 1659-60, married Hon. John
Otis, the third of the name, July 18, 1683. She died
Note. — In the account of the Allyn family I inadvertantly stated
that Capt. Samuel Mayo bought his house lot of John Ca.sely. This is
a mistake. John Casely's house lot ■w-a.s on tlie South side of the road.
Itconlained four acres, the south-we.st corner being near the Jaii lands.
An investigation of this noatter, seems ti confirm the trndition that
the present road between Jail Hill and the old Sturges tavern was a
private way belonging to the Lotbrops, before the year 1686, when It
was laid out as a public highway. In 1654 there was a highway from
near the Savings Bank Building to the wharf now owned by Josiah
Hinckley, and the house lots were bounded by that road.
26 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Dec. 10, 1737 aged 77 years. She was buried at "West
Barnstable, where a monument is erected to her mem-
ory.— [See Otis Family.]
VIII. John, born June, 1651 the record says, but accord-
ing to his grave stones in the burying ground near the
Meeting House in the East Parish, he was born in
June 1665. He "died Aug. 20, 1731, iu the 67th year
of his age."
Nathaniel Bacon, 2d, bought a part of the house lot of
Elder Henry Cobb, including the stone or fortification house
thereon, afterwards owned by the third Nathaniel Bacon,
who kept a public house. He also inherited the mansion
house of his father ; but his mother having a life estate
therein, it did not come into his possession.
He married March 27, 1673, Sarah, daughter of Gov.
Thomas Hinckley. She died February 16, l()86-7, aged
40. He married for his second wife Hannah [Lumbert?] a
young woman. He died Dec, 1691, aged 46. In his will
dated Aug. 6, 1691, proved May 9, 1692, he does not pro-
vide liberally for his wife Hannah*, and contraiy to the
usual custom, did not name her execijtrix of his will.
He also names his son Natlianiel^arid Samuel, his daughter
Mary and Elizabeth, l^f^-^is second wife, and
his "honored mother Baoon." He had two dwelling
houses, to Nathaniel he gave "one house which he will," and .
the other to his younger son Samuel. He appointed as
executors of his will, "My loving brethen Jeremiah Bacon
and John Otis, and my trusty and well beloved friends
Jonathan Russel and Lieut. James Lewis, all of this town of
Barnstable."
Children of Naih'l Bacon 2d, and his wife Sarah Hinckley ,
born in Barnstable.
I. Nathaniel, born Sept. 9, 1674. He was married by
Maj. Mayhew, Nov. 11, 1696, to Ruth Doggett, at
Martha's Vineyard. His children were Thomas, born
Sept. 30, 1697 ; removed to Eastham ; David born Dec.
11, 1700; Jonathan, born March 11, 1703 ; Hannah, born
Jan'y 15, 1704-5, and Sarah, born Jan'y 6, 1707-8. He
*In 1698 she married John Davis, Jr., his third wife, and had Nicho-
las. Jodediah, Desire, Noah and perhaps other children In 1705 she
is called of Palmouih. She had one daughtei-, Elizabeth, by her sec-
ond husband.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE I'AMILIES. 27
died ill Barnstable Jan'y 1737-8 aged (i3, and his widow
died Aug 6, 1756, aged 80. He was a deacon of the
church, a blaclcsmith by trade, and kept a public house.
II. Mary, born Oct. 9, 1677, married Xov. 5, 1702, John
Crociver, of Barnstable. She died March 1711, aged 33.
III. Elizabeth, born April 11, 1680, married Aug. 31,
1704 Israel Tapper, of Sandwich.
IV. Samuel, born Jan'y 20, 1682, married March 30, 1704
Mary, daughter of Thomas Huckins. His second wife
was Sarah, daughter of Edward Taylor, and wido^v of
Samuel Allyn, Jr., whom he married 26th Jan'y 1708. —
His children were Ebenezer, born March 16, 1705, died
July 17, 1706; Ebenezer, Dec. 4, 1708; ^Mercv, born
May 22, 1710; and Edward. Jan'y 23, 1714-15. '
Deacon Samuel Bacon, resided in the ancient far^iily man-
sion which he transmitted to his son Edward. Dea. Bacon
died April 29, 1728, aged 46, and his widow Sarah, Sept.
24, 1753, aged 73. Ebenezer of this family married Jan'y
17, 1734, Lydia Lothrop, and he removed with his wife
and five children in 1745, to Lebanon, Conn. His house, a
one story, gambrel roofed, double house, stood on the east-
erly part of the land, which, w.as the great lot of l{ev. Mr.
Lothrop, where Daniel Downes now lives. He sold his
house and land to Capt. John Cnllio, a Scotchman. Mercy,
daughter of Deacon Samuel, married Aug. 5,1744, Jonathan
Hallett, of Hyannis, a son of David Hallett. The late Ben-
jamin Hallett, Esq., was a son, and the present Hon. Ben-
jamin F. Hallett, of Boston, a grandson, and of the sixth
generation from Nathaniel Bacon, the first settler. He has
numerous descendants.
Hon. Edward Bacon, youngest son of Dea. Samuel, was
a distinguished man in his time. He held many important
offices. He took an active part during the Revolution, and
in the stirring times immediately preceding it. His patriot-
ism was at one time doubted : but the resolutions passed by
the town and recoi'ded, vindicate his character as patriot and
a man. He inherited the ancient mansion house of the
Bacons, afterwards owned by his youngest son Ebenezer.
He married Sept. 7, 1744, Patience daughter of Benjamin
Marston ; she died Oct. 21, 1764, and he married Dec. 21,
1765, Rachel Doane, of VVellfleet. He died March 16.
28 GENEALOGrCAL IfOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES,
1783, aged 68, and is buried near the church in the East
Parish. His widow Racbael in. Dr. Thomas Smith,
Woods Holl. He had nine children, five of whom died in
iniancy, namely : 1. Edward, born Oct. 19, 1742, who
married Lydia Gorham, and died in 1811. 2. Lydia, born
February 3, 1744-5, died April 28, 1745. 3. Nymphas,
June 2, 1746, died Dec. i , 1746. 4. Sajnanel, Oct. 17,
1747, died Nov, 7. 1747. 5. James, Oct. 30, 1748, who
married Johanna Hamblen, and removed to Freeport Maine,
fi. Susannah, Dec. 13, 1750, died March 24, 1753. 7.
Sarah, born Dec. 25, 1752, died April 11, 1776. 8. Susan-
nah, Feb. 14, 1755; and Ebenezer, Aug. 30, 1756, a dis-
tinguished man. He held many important offices was a cor-
rect business man, of sound judgment, intelligent, a good
neighbor and citizen, and hospitable to a fault. Whatever
Squire Bacon said was regarded as law by his neighbors, a,
fact which shows that he was a man of worth and influence.
He died of consumption, in 1811, aged 55 years, leaving a
numerous family, who were "trained up in the way they
should go," and now that "they are old they do not depart
from it." ji/y
Samuel Bacon, son of Nntharfel, removed to Hingham,
and married 17th Dec, 1675, Mary, daughter of John Jacob.
He died in Hingham, Feb. 18, 1680-1, aged 29 years, 11
mos., -23 days. In his -will dated Jan'y 13, 1680-1 he names
his honored mother. Hannah Bacon, widow ; his two dauo-h-
ters, Hannah and Mary, and his wife, Mary, whom he ap-
points sole executrix ; and for overseers, his father-in-law,
John Jacob, of Hingham, his brother-in-law George Shove,
of Taunton, Shubael Dimmock, of Barnstable, and his broth-
er Jeremiah Bacon. He had property in Hingham and
Barnstable, all of which was apprized at £334,8,2. His
childien born in Hingham were Hannah, born Oct. 1676,
died ;i<jed two months. Hannah, again, born Feb. 16, 1678
and Mary, born Feb. 1680. Respecting these daughters I
have no certain information. Tradition says they removed
to Barnstable, never married, and built the large two story
gambrel roofed house occupied by John Bacon, Jr., and
afterwards by his son, the late Capt. Isaac Bacon.
Jeremiah Bacon, son of Nathaniel, was a tanner. His
house which was a two story building with a Leantoo on the
o
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 29
west end, stood a little distance north-east from William
Cobb's house. His tannery was in the low ground on the
north-east his house. He married Dee. 1686, Eliza-
beth Howes of Yarmouth. He died in 1706, aged 49, leav-
ing a good estate, which was settled Feb. 15, 1712-13. His
house lot, a part of the Dimmock farm, contained nine acres
and he had thirty acres in the Common Field, adjoining the
house lot on the north, lands at Stony Cove, and at Middle-
boro, meadows and wood land. Of the homestead two and
three fourths acres were set off to Job, bounded south by
the highway, west by land of .Vlr. John Otis, (now Lot N.
Otis,) and the meadow of Samuel Dimmock, north by the
Creek. This land is now owned by William Cobb. To
Samuel, his eldest son, and his mother, three acres, bounded
south by the highway, west by Job Bacon, and north by the
creek, with the barn and other buildings thereon. This land
is now owned by Solomon Hinckley. To Jeremiah, second
son, 3 and 1-2 acres, bounded south by the highway, west
by Samuel Bacon's land, (now by the town road to the
Common Field,) north by the creek, and east by Shubael
Dimmock's laud. This lot was afterwards owned by Jamos
Delap, and is now owned by the widow Anna Otis. Samuel
had 10, Jeremiah 9 1-2 and Job 9 acres in the Common
Field. Joseph had land at Stony Cove, and 1-3 of land at
Middleboro, &c. Ebenezer one third of land at Middleboro,
&c. Nathaniel had one third of land at Middleboro, &c. ; in
his portion were 1 silver spoon, 1 silver porringer, &c. —
His Wid. Elizabeth, and daughters Anna and Mary had por-
tions set to them in severalty. Sarah and Elizabeth are not
named, and were probably dead.
Children of Jeremiah Bacon and his wife Elizabeth Howes
born in Barnstable.
I. Sarah, born Oct. 16, 1687, probably died young.
H. Anna, born Mar. 16, 1688-9.
HI.Mercy, born Jan'y 30, 1689-90, married Mar. 19, 1719,
Thomas Joyce of Yarmouth, had a large family of girls
noted for their beauty, which however did not prevent the
father from committing suicide.
IV. Samuel, born Aug. 15, 1692. He married three
wives. 1st, Deborah daughter of Nathaniel Otis, who
came from Nantucket and settled in Barnstable. She
30 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
died May 29th, 1721. 2d, he marvied J;m'y 7, 1724-5
Wid. Hannah JRussell, a daughter of Joseph Paine, Esq.,
of Harwich. She had previously married on the 20th of
Jan'y 1715-16, Philip Eussel). 'She died May 8, 1753
aged 58, (the church records say "about 50.") 3d Mary
Howland, Feb. 21, 1754. He was a captain, a man of
some property, and had the bump of self esteem largely
developed. Notwithstanding his official standing and his
being junior to Dea. Samuel, he vvas always known as
Scussion Sam, a nickname exceedingly mortifying to his
dignity. He believed that his family was entitled to more
respect than the other Bacon families and was often vexed
because his neighbors thought otherwise. He had a habit
of saying, "we \vill discuss that matter," hence his nick-
name. He resided in the house which was his father's
and died Jan'y 29, 1770 aged 77. His children born in
Barnstable were Sarah, Feb. 24, 1713-14, who married
Jabez Linnell, Nov. 11, 1736; Oris, May 7, 1715, mar-
ried Hannah Lewis Nov. 23, 1738, and died July 11,
1773, without issue, and bequeathed his estate to his
nephew, the late Mr. Oris Bacon ; Thomas, Oct. 23, 1716,
married Desire Hallett Feb. 1, 1745 ; Susannah, Dec. 24,
1718, married Nath'l Cobb De^ 14, 1738 ; Deborah, Dec.
4, 1720, married Peter Pierce-'Nov. 12, 1741 ; Hannah,
baptized Feb. 13, 1725-6, and Mary baptized July 26,
1730. There are no descendants in the male line of Capt.
Samuel Bacon now living in Barnstable. A great-grandson
residing in AVisconsin has many. Oris Bacon, son of Oris
died at Lima Centre, Wisconsin, Nov. 21, 1862, aged 85
years, 7 months, 5 days.
V. Jeremiah, born Oct. 2, "1694, married Abigail Parker
(she married 2d, Nov. 10, 1732, Mr. Eliphalet Carpenter
of Woodstock,) and had Prince June 15, 1720, and Jer-
emiah, Jan'y 14, 1723-4. The latter married Hannah
Taylor April 23, 1750.
VI. Joseph, born June 15. 1695, married Patience Annable
1722, and had seven children. 1. Joseph born April 11,
1723, married Mirian Coleman Dec. 13, 1750 ; 2. Desire'
born Dec. 3, 1724, married Joseph Davis, Jr., Sept. 24,
1745. 3. Jane, born Feb. 28 1727-8 married James
Davis, Jr., Sept. 24, 1745. 4. Samuel, father of Robert
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 31
Bacon of Boston, born March 28, 1731. He died on
board the Jersey prison ship. One account says :
"Samuel Bacon of Barnstable, died on board the prison
ship at St. Lucia 1781." 5. Patience, born June 29,
173-1, married May 19, 1747, Ben. Davis. 6. Annah,
born July 29, 1737, died June 20, 1761. 7. Mercy, born
April 17, 1740, married Sept. 4, 1760, Ben. Lumbert.
VII. Ebenezer, born March 11, 1698.
VIII. Nathaniel, born Sept. 11, 1700, married June 11,
1726, Sarah Cobb. He lived in the Otis Loring house
and removed to New Jersey about 1750. He had born in
Barnstable, Rebecca, Dec. 17, 1726 ; Jeremiah, born June
25, 1732; Elizabeth, born May 1, 1734; Sarah, born May
9, 1736 ; (she said her sister Elizabeth walked from New
Jersey, barefooted ;) died unmarried in 1815; Nathaniel
born March 3, 1737-8.
IX. Job, born March 23, 1703, married Elizabeth Mills,
March 10, 1725.
X. Elizabeth, born Aug. 6, 1705.
John Bacon, Esq., youngest son of Nathaniel, was eight
years of age when his father died in 1673. Beside his share
in his father's estate, his brothers Nathaniel and Samuel
bought for him Nov. 25, 1676, twelve acres of land of
Major John Walley, administrator on the estate of Nicholas
Davis, deceased. The eastern half, however, seems to have
been transferred to his sister Mercy, afterwards wife of Hon.
John Otis.
Extracts* from ancient deeds, and other records, enable
me to state in an intelligible form the original laying out of
the lands east of Cobb's, or Meeting House Hill. The house
lot of Roger Goodspeed as already stated was bounded west
by the present Mill Lane and the Hyannis road. On the
north side of the highway the next lot on the east was laid
out to Nathaniel Bacon, this extended to the top of the Hill
a little east of the spot where the late Capt. Isaac Bacon's
house stood. On the south side of the road, the lot next
east of Goodspeed's was owned in 1654 by the Wid. Mary
Hallett, and is now owned by S. B. Phinney and the heirs
of Timothy Reed, deceased. The next lot was laid out to
*The extracts referred to are omitteo.
32 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Lieutenant James Lewis and is now owned by F. W. Crock-
er. Tlie next lot now owned by Frederick Cobb, on the
east of the Lane (called Cobb's lane) was laid out to Nath'l
Bacon. The eastern boundary of this lot corresponding
with the eastern boundary of his house lot on the north side
of the highway. Richard Foxwell's lots were next east,
four acres lying on each side of the road. The Bacons
bought this land early. A part of that bought of Foxwell
on the north side is yet owned by them, and a part by the
Agricultural society. The Foxwell land on the south of the
road is now owned by Joseph H. Hallet and James Otis.
Next east of the Foxwell land on the south of the road, was
the great lot of Elder Henry Cobb containing sixty acres. —
It extended to the range of fence a little west of the present
dwelling house of Joseph Cobb. Henry Taylor owned two
acres at the north east comer of this lot. Next east of Elder
Cobb's great lot was the farm of Joshua Lumbard extendino-
to the range on the east of the house of Amos Otis, deceased,
and bounded east by the great lot of Rev. John Lothrop.
Joshua Lumbert, when he removed to South Sea, sold this
lot. The front was owned by Schoolmaster Lewis, and the
rear by Robert Shelly, who sold -to Samuel Norman. Mr.
Lothrop's great lot contained 45 acres, and extended to the
range of fence between the houses of Daniel Downes and
Joshua Thayer. This lot was sold by the heirs of Mr.
Lothrop to John Scudder, and he sold his house and six
acres of land to Stephen Davis, and the remainder of the
land to the Bacons. On the north side of the road the lot
next east of Foxwell's was Nicholas Davis' ; this land ex-
tended to the eastern boundary of the Dimmock farm, which
is the range of fence between the houses of Charles Sturo-is
and Solomon Hinckley. From this point, the Dimmock
land was bounded 115 rods on the south by the highway to
the turn in the road east of the house of William W. Stur-
gis. The Dimmocks sold some of their laud very early.
Nicholas Davis bought six acres at the west end and which
was a part of the tracts which his administrator sold to John
Bacon, but was afterwards transferred to his sister Mercy
and is now owned by her descendants Solomon Hinckley
and Lot N. Otis. Four acres on the east of the last named
lot were bought by Henry Taylor, and by him sold in 1659
to Nath'l Bacon. John Scudder bought six acres of the
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 33
Dimtnock land which he sold to the Bacons. The two last lots
were afterwards the property of Jeremiah Bacon, and divid-
ed in 1712 as above stated.
The Bacons owned extensive tracts of land. John Ba-
con, Esq., owned on the road the lots which belonged to Fox-
well, and the lot of Nicholas Davis. He owned a house and
farm at Strawberry Hill at South Sea, and extensive tracts
of wood land and meadows.
He was bred a lawyer, and had an extensive practice.
He was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held
other offices. He wrote the worst hand, for a man of busi-
ness, that I have ever met with ; his lines were crooked in
every direction ; his letters cramped and awkwardly formed,
and difficult to decipher; the execution shabby and misera-
ble. It has been remarked that a man's character is devel-
oped in his hand-writing. If John Bacon, Esq., is to
be judged by that rule, a high estimate cannot be placed on
his orderly habits or intellectual endowments. He was much
employed in public business, was a church member in good
standing, and his moral character was unblemished.
John Bacon, Esq., youngest son of Nathaniel, married
June 17, 1686, Mary, daughter of Capt. John Hawes
of Yarmouth. She died, March 5, 1725-6, aged 61 years.
He married for his second wife, Sept. 9, 1726, Madame
Sarah Warren of Plymouth, a widow-woman having children
and grand-children of her own. He died "Aug. 20, 1731,
in the 67th year of his age,'" and is buried in the grave yard
near the Meeting House in the East Parish.
In his Will, a most elaborate document, occupying four
and one-half large and closely written pages on the records,
he provides that in certain contingencies, his negro slave
Dinah shall be sold by his executors, "and all she is sold for
shall be improved by my executors in buying of Bibles, and
they shall give them equally alike unto each of my said
wife's and my grand-children." Whether this pious act was
performed by his executors, I am not informed.
He left a large estate, which he divided nearly in equal
• proportions to his children then living. His wife was pro-
vided for in a marriage contract dated 27th of May, 1729.
He owned his homestead on the north side of the road, con-
taining about thirty acres, bought of Foxwell, Nicholas
Davis and Abraham Blish ; this he divided into five lots,
34 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
giving to Nathaniel the eastern, containing six acres, on
which his son had built a two-story single house. This lot
is now owned by Charles Sturgis, S. B. Pbinney and Joseph
Basset. The next lot on the west, to his daughter Desire
Green, on which there had also been built a two-story single
house, afterward owned by Lot Thacher. The next lot con-
taining five acres, he gave by deed to his son Solomon, who
sold it to John Sturgis, jr. These two lots are now owned
by Joseph Basset. The fourth lot with the mansion house
thereon, he gave to his son Judah, and the west lot to his
son John by deed. These, excepting about an acre at the
southwest, are now owned by the Barnstable County Agri-
cultural Society. The Foxwell land on the south side of the
road he gave to Judah with the barn, orchard, &c.
His farm and dwelling-house at Strawberry Hill, South
Sea, he gave 1-8 to Hannah, 1-8 to Solomon, 1-4 to Nathan-
iel, 1-4 to John, and 1-4 to Judah. Solomon to have the
improvement of the house till he had one of his own.
His woodland he gave in equal shares to Desire,
Nathaniel, John, Solomon and Judah.
His meadows he divided to his sons, and daughter
Desire.
His clothing he divided to Nathaniel 1-4, and his best hat
and wig, John 1-2 and his cane, Solomon 1-4 and law books,
and to Judah 1-4 and his horse furniture.
His "household wares," 1-3 to Desire, and 1-3 to Hannah
and I presume the other 3d to his wife. His one-sixth of
the mill at Blushe's Bridge he gave to Solomon ; and his
great Bible to Hannah. He gave to all his sons and grand-
sons, liberty to use his two landing-places, one at the mill
and the other at Blushe's Point. To his grand-daughter
Mary, daughter of his son Isaac, then deceased, 20 shillings,
and if Isaac's widow had another child, then £40, provided
either lived to be 21 years of age.
His orchard he gave to Judah, but his children, not-
withstanding, were to have the fruit of five trees each for
seven years.
Judah had the largest share in the estate, but he had
duties to perform that the others had not. He had to pro-
vide among other things "a good gentle beast to go in my
wife's calach to any part of Barnstable, and once a year to
Plymouth."
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 35
Children (if John Bacon, Enq., and his wife Mary Haues.
I. Hannah, born June 7, 1687, married March 25, 1709,
Ebenczer Morton, of Plymouth, and had a family.
II. Desire, born March 15, 16>^8-9, mMrried March 25,
1709, (at the same time with her sister Hannah)
William Green, and had six children. She died
Dec. 29, 1730, aged 41. He died Jan'y 28, 1756,
"aged about 70."
III. Nathaniel, born Jan'y 16, 1691-2, married Aug. 19,
1720, Anna Annabie, who died soon, leaving no issue.
He married in 1730, Thankful Lumbert, by whom he
had Lemuel, Benjamin, Jabez, Hannah and Jane, bap-
tized April 26, 1741. She had afterwards Lurania,
illegitimate, baptized Aug. 28, 1743. She married
Sept. 7, 1744, Augustine Bearse, and had other chil-
dren. She died Nov., 1774, aged "about 70." Jabez
died 1757, leaving his estate to his brothers and
sisters.
IV. Patience, born June 15, 1694 ; died young.
V. John, born March 24, 1697, mariied IGlizabeth Free-
man, May 3, 1726. The records says he died "abroad
May 24, 1745." He fell overboard at sea and was
drowned.* He owned and occupied the large two-
story gambrel-roofed dwelling, on the rising ground
east of the ancient mansion-house of the Bacons.
He was called a saddler in 1729 ; but I have
understood he was a sea captain at the time of
his death. He had ten children, Mary, born
March 24, 1725-6, died in infancy ; John, born
April 29, 1728; he died a young man leaving no
issue; Barnabas, born April 17, 1729, died in
infancy; a daughter, Jan'y 3, 1730-1, died "in half
an hour"; Elizabeth, born May 8, 1731, married
Oct. 6, 1755, Thomas Dimmock; Isaac, born Dec.
25, 1732, married Oct. 29, 1762, Alice Talor. He
died June 26, 1819, aged 87 years. He resided in
the house which was his father's. He had a small
♦The circumstances are thus told : When he fell overboard there was
only one other man on deck — a man who stammered, but a good sing-
er. When Capt. Bacon fell overboard he attempted to call the crew,
but could not articulate a word. One said to him "sing it," and he
commenced and sung "John Bacon's overboard.''
36 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
farm which he cultivated, raising a large quantity of
onions for market. He was master of a packet run-
ning between Boston and Barnstable many years, and
in the fall carried a large quantity of onions to the
Boston market. He was tall, over six feet, and
well proportioned — a man that was never vexed
at anything. If a man assailed him, he would
always have a witty reply, and thus turn the tables
on his opponent. Many anecdotes are related of
him. In the article on the Annable family a char-
acteristic story is told of him. This packet was
called "the Somerset," not her real name — a small
craft — the remains of which lie in the raft dock at
Blushe's Point. One time he sailed from Barnstable
with a southwest wind. After crossing the bar his
vessel began to leak. Unable to keep her free by
pumping, he hove about to return, and continuing to
pump she was soon free. It did not take Capt. Isaac
long to find the trouble. A wicked rat had gnawed
a hole through the planking on the starboard side,
which was under water when on the other tack. He
made a plug, let himself down on the side of the ves-
sel, and drove it in the rat-hole, hove about and
went to Boston.
One year straw to bunch early ripe onions could
not be procured, and the farmers cut green bull-
rushes for the purpose. Purchasers who wanted
onions for the West India market, objected to them.
In reply, Capt. Bacon said: "Gentlemen, these are
what are called 'tarnity onions'; they'll keep to all
eternity." He sold his onions, but the purchasers
had to throw them overboard in a week after.
Capt. Samuel Hutchins, no relation of Capt. Ba-
con's, also run a packet to Boston and carried onions.
At one time he sold a load to be delivered in Salem.
Capt. Bacon heard of it, and having his vessel loaded,
sailed for Salem, and called on the merchant to buy.
The merchant said he had engaged a load of Capt.
Huckins. Capt. Bacon replied : "He is my son-in-
law and these are the very onions."
The town records say the 7th child of John
Bacon, jr., was named Mark, the church records say
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 37
Mercy, born Jan'y 27, 1734-5, baptized Feb. 2,
1734-5. She died unmarried March 29,' 1765 ; Sim-
eon, born July 26, 1736, died March 21, 1740;
Desire, born May 20, 1738 ; she was never married,
lived in the house with her brother Isaac, in which
she had a life estate. She died March 2, 1811 ;
Mary, born Aug. 23, 1740. married Joseph Bavis.-
VI. Isaac, born March 29, 1699, married Hannah Ste-
vens. He removed to Provincetown where he died
in 1730, leaving a daughter Mary, and a posthumous
child, born after the death of the father.
VII. Solomon, born April 3, 1701, married July 16, 1726,
Hannah Capron, a Tiehobeth name. He was a phy-
sician and resided some time in Barnstable. Whether
he removed or died young, I am unable to say. I
have a memorandum that he had a daughter Sarah,
who died April 11, 1775, aged 20.
VIII. Judah, born Dec. 9, 1703. I do not find that he left
issue.
Nathaniel Bacon, including the male and female lines,
is the ancestor of a very large proportion of the eminent
men of Cape Cod. The sketch which I have givein, is only
an outline. There are an abundance of materials for an in-
teresting, useful and popular work, and I hope the author of
the Sears' Memorial will deem it a subject worthy of his
eloquent pen.
The descendants of Jeremiah Bacon did not inherit the
business talents for which the other branches of the Bacon
family were distinguished. Some of them were noted for
their pleasant humor and ready wit. The saying of Nathan-
iel, brother of the second Oris, are often repeated in the
neighborhood where he resided. He married a grand-
daughter of William Blatchford, and his wife Elizabeth, the
reputed witch. He was a poor man, had a large family,
and died at the Almshouse in Barnstable. At first he re-
sided near the late Mr. Ebenezer Sturgis, afterwards in a
small house, at a distance from neighbors. On a cold,
stormy winter's day, when the roads were blocked by drifts
of snow, he sat in his comfortable room, while Mr. Sturgis
and his sons were out watering and taking care of their large
stock of cattle. Nathaniel remai-ked : "I am thankful that
I do not own that stock of cattle ; Sally and I have been
38 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
sitting at ease by a cheerful, blazing fire, they have been
toiling all day, exposed to the cold, driving storm.
When in the eastern country he boastingly said,
'Squire Bacon and I keep more cows than any other two
men in Barnstable"; Nathaniel had one; 'Squire Bacon
twenty.
He tooli up a bar of iron in a blaclismith's shop and
said, "I can bite an inch off of this bar," at the same time
showing a good set of teeth. A l)et on the performance of
the feat was accepted. Putting the iron near his open
mouth, he brouglit his teeth quiclily together. "There,
gentlemen," said he, "I have bitten more 'than an inch
off."
Of his wife he related the following anecdote : One
stormy winter morning, when he had no wood to kindle a
fire, no provisions in his house, and six small children
clamoring for breakfast, his wife got up, scraped a little
frost from a window, and looking out exclaimed in piteous
tones, -'Oh, what would I give for one pipe of tobacco."
Samuel Bacon, of Barnstable, took the oath of fidelity
in 1657. How long he had then been of Barnstable does
not appear. In 1(562, he had a grant of "six acres of land
more or less, sixty poles north and south, and 18 poles
wide," (less than 5 acres) at the head of Richard Foxwell's
land, bounded northerly thereby, east by the land of James
Cobb, south by the commons, and west by Xathaniel Bacon.
He married 9th of May, 1669, Martha Foxwell, and had
I. Samuel, born March 9, 1669-70.'^
n. Martha, born Jan'y, 1671.
This family disappeared early. Sifcu<sl is supposed to
have been a brother of Nathaniel and "M^jtbeth . but I find
no positive evidence that such was tlie fEt
BACHILER
REV. STEPHEN BACHILER.
This eccentric and learned divine has the honor of being
the first white man who settled within the present limitn of
the town of Barnstable. He lived a hundred years, and his
long life was checkered with exciting incidents on which the
imaginative pen of the novelist would delight to dwell. He
was born in England in 1561, received orders in the estab-
lished church, was settled in the ministry, and ejected by
the bishops for non-conformity, at whose hands Gov. Winth-
rop says he had suffered much. He married early in life,
and four of his sons and three daughters are named : John
Wing, afterwards of Sandwich, married his daughter Debo-
rah, probably before his removal to Holland, where he re-
sided several years. During his residence in that country,
Christopher Hussey, the ancestor of the Nantucket family of
that name, became enamored with his daughter Theodate,
and sought her hand in marriage ; but Mr. Bachiler refused
assent, without the bridegroom would agree to remove to
New England. Hussey assented to the condition imposed,
and took, probably in 1629, Theodate to wife. Mr. Bach-
iler, intending to emigrate to New England, soon after re-
turned to London.. Mr. Lewis states that his church in
Holland consisted of six members beside himself, and that
these returned with him to London. No names are given ;
but it is uniformly stated that they were his friends, or mem-
bers of his own family. If so, the seven probably were Mr.
Bachiler and his wife, John Wing and his wife Deborah,
John Sanborn and his wife, a daughter of Mr. Bachiler, and
Theodate Hussey. Sanborn's wife died in England, and it
does not appear that he came over. His sons John. William
and Stephen came over with their grandfather and settled in
Hampton. Christopher Hussey and his mother, the widow-
Mary Hussey, were afterwards members of his church, and
40 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
followed their pastor in all his wanderings. Mr. Savage,
whose authority is not to be rejected on light or inconclu-
sive testimony, thinks the Husseys came over in the same
ship with ?tlr. Bachiler. The court records, and the decis-
ions of the ecclesiastical councils favor his supposition, and
it will be hard to show how the ubiquitous number of six
members is made up, if he is not right.
On the 9th of March, 1632, Mr. Bachiler and his com-
pany embarked at London in the ship \\'illiam and Francis,
Capt. Thomas, and arrived in Boston Thursday, June 5,
1632, after a tedious passage of 88 days, and on the day
next after liis arrival went to Lynn.
Mr. Lewis* states that "In Mr. Bachiler's church were
six persons who had belonged to a church with him in Eng-
land; and of these he constituted a church at Lynn, to
which he admitted such as desired to become members, and
commenced the exercise of his public ministrations on Sun-
day, the 8th of June, without installation." Four months
after a complaint was made of some irregularities in his con-
duct. He was arraigned before the court at Boston, Oct.
3, when the following order was passed: "Mr. Bachiler is
required to forbeare exercising his gifts as a pastor or teacher
pul)liqely in our Pattent, unlesse it be to those he brought
with him, for his contempt of authority, and until some scan-
dies be removed." Mr. Bachiler, however, succeeded in
regaining the esteem of the people, and the court on the 4th
of March, 1633, removed their injunction against him. In
1635, some of the members became dissatisfied with the
conduct of their pastor, "and doubting whether they were
regularly organized as a church," withdrew from the com-
munion. A council of ministers was held on the 15th of
March, and after deliberating three days, decided ."that
although the church had not lieen properly instituted, yet
after-consent and practice of a church-state had supplied that
defect. So all were reconciled," says the record. Mr.
Bachiler, however, perceiving no prospect of terminating
the difficulties, requested a dismission for himself and the
six who had accompanied him from England, which was
granted, on the supposition that he intended to remove fi-om
*The dates given by the aiithoi- of the history of Lynn are not always
reliable. He states that Hussuy settled in Lynn in 1630. The evidence
favors the supposition that he did not come over till 1632.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 41
Lynn. Instead of this, he remained and formed another
church of his friends, that is of those who came over with
him.
This conduct gave great offence to "the most and chief
of the town" of Lynn, and they entered a complaint against
Mr. Bachiler to the assistants who forbade him to proceed
in the organization of his church until the subject was con-
sidered by other ministers. Still he goes on. The magis-
trates require his attendance before them. He refuses to
obey; they send the marshall who brought him into their
presence. He submits and agrees to leave the town in three
months.
Mr. Bachiler was admitted a freeman May 6, 1635, and
removed from Lynn to Ipswich in Feb. 163H, where he re-
ceived a grant of fifty acres of land, and had the prospect
of a settlement ; but some difiiculty arose and he left the
place.
Gov. Withrop in the first volume of his history, under
the date of March 30, 1(338, has the following passage :
"Another plantation was now in hand at Mattakeese
["MOW Yarmouth," \s written on the marginjsix miles beyond
Sandwich. The undertaker of this was one Mr. Batcheller,
late pastor at Saugus, (since called Lynn) being about 76
years of age ; yet he walked thither on foot in a very hard
season."
"He and his company, being all poor men, finding the
difiiculty, gave it over and others undertook it."
Mr. Bachiler settled in the easterly part of Mattakeese,
at a place which is known to this day as "OW Town." The
names of his associates are not given ; probably the com-
pany consisted of persons who belonged to, or were con-
nected by marriage, with the family of Mr. Bachiler, namely,
sons, sons-in-law and grand-sons, with their families.*
Mr . Bachiler probably obtained the consent of Mr.
Collicut, to whom the lands at Mattakeese had been granted,
before he undertook to establish a plantation ; for without
*There is a remarkable parallelism between the character of Mr.
Bachiler and thatof Mr. Wm. Nickerson, the ancestorof the family of
that name. Both were, or assumed to be, i-eligious men; bi>th were
stiff-necked and wayward; both were often involved in difHculties;
both were undertakers of uew plantations, and in both their families,
the same clannish feeling prevailed. Bachiler had more wives and
Nickerson more law suits; the former "undertook" several planta-
tions; the latter only or.e; otherwise their histories were parallel.
42 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
such consent he would have been a trespasser and liable to
ejectment. The terms of the grant cannot be quoted ; but
it does not thence follow that no permit was given or grunt
made. VVe know by the Old Colony records that in ll)37
or 1638, certain lands in Barnstable were run out into house
and other lots ; that these lands were laid out by or under
the authority of Mr. Richard Collicut of Dorchester. He
was a surveyor, but there is no evidence that he was ever in
Barnstable. The Plymouth records tell us the thing was
done ; but they do not tell us who did it. The passage
quoted from (iov. VVinthrop clearly and distinctly states
that at, (jr about the time, the Plymouth records say the
lands were run out, Mr. Eachiler and his company under-
took to form a plantation at Mattakeese. The very lirst
thing that he and his company did, undoubtedly, was to do
what all such companies did in those times tirst do ; that is
run out house lots for each of their party, and farming lands
and meadows to be held by each in severalty. Not to pre-
sume this, is to presume that Mr. Eachiler and his company
were not only wanting in common prudence, but wanting in
common sense. The tirst settlers in new countries
never failed to appropriate a sufficiency of laud to them-
selves, and in order to make such appropriation, they must
tirst run them out and put up boundaries.
That there were some among his company that could
survey lands, scarce admits of doubt. Mr. Bachilcr, as Mr.
Prince informs us, was a "man of learning and ingenuity,
and wrote a tine and curious hand," and he could undoubt-
edly run lines and draw plans. His son John Wing, one of
the company, was a man of skill and energy — and he proba-
bly had with him his sons Daniel, Stephen and John, three
stout youths, if not all men grown — one of whom in after-
times was a surveyor of lands.
That Mr. Bachiler's party were capable of doino- all
that the Colony records say was done, does not admit of
doubt, and in the absence of all proof to the contrary, it is
to be presumed that they did do it.
Sandwich was settled in 1637, mostly by people from
Lynn — old neighbors and acquaintances of Mr. Bachiler's
company — and it is probable, that being the nearest settle-
ment to Mattakeese, that they left their women and little
ones there till shelter could be procured for them in the new
settlement.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 43
The tir^t house built within the present Iionnds of Yar-
mouth (of which there is a record), is that of Mr. Stephen
Hopkins, aftei wards owned b}' his son Gyles, and by him
sohl to Andrew Hallet, jr. This was in the summer of 1()38,
and was built as a temporary residence for his servants who
had the care of cattle sent from Plymouth to be wintered at
Mattakeese. \\'hether or not cattle had been sent from
Plymouth in previous years does not appear; if so, then
Mr. Bachiler found whites within a mile of the place he select-
ed for settlement. It was also in the inunediate vicinity of
"lyanough's town," a place not inhabited by the Indians in
the winter, and their deserted wigwams perhaps afforded
them a temporary shelter.
Mr. Bachiler and his company were all poor men, illy
provided with the means of establishing a plantation, even
in the mild season of the year, and it is hardly possible that
they could have sustained themselves during the intensely
cold winter of 1637, without some kindly herdsmen, or
some friendly Indians gave them shelter while they were
preparing their rude habitations.
Early in the spring of 1638, Mr. Bachiler, "finding
the difficulties great," abandoned his plantation at Matta-
keese. John Wing and his family stopped in Sandwich.
Mr. Bachiler and Christopher Hussey went to Newbury,
aud on the 6th of September the Massachusetts Legislature
gave them and others leave to begin a plantation at Hamp-
ton, of which he became the minister. The next year, ac-
cording to Mr. Felt, he was excommunicated for unchastity,
though Gov. Winthrop says he was then "about eighty
years of age, and had a lusty, comely woman to wife ." In
November, 1641, he was restored to the church, but not to
his oflice. About this time his house in Hampton took fire
and was consumed with nearly all his property.
In 1644, the people of Exeter invited him to settle
there; but the court forbid his settlement. In 1647, he
was at Portsmouth, now Portland, where in 1650, he being
then 89 years old, his second wife Helena being dead, he
married his third wife Mary, without publishing his inten-
tion of marriage according to law, for which he was fined
ten pounds, half of which was afterwards remitted.
With his third wife he lived only a few months. She
went to Kittery, and, according to the York records, on the
15th of October, 1651, was presented for committing adnl-
44 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
tery with George Rogers, and sentenced "to receive forty
stripes save one, at the first town meeting held at Kittery
six weeks after her delivery, and be branded with the letter
A." In October, 1656, she petitioned for a divorce from
Mr. Bachiler, because he had five years before "transported
himself to Ould England, and betaken himself to another
wife," and because she desired "disposing herselfe in the
way of marriage." Whether or not she obtained a divorce
does not appear on record.
Mr. Bachiler, atter his return to England, married a
fourth wife, his third being then living. At last he died in
the year 1660, at Hackney, near Loudon, in the one hun-
dreth year of his age.*
No record of his family is preserved . Four sons and
three daughters are named. Henry, settled at Reading ;
Nathaniel, born about 1611, "a chip of the old block," set-
tled at Hampton, and Francis and Stephen, both remained
in London, the latter said to have been livinsr in 1685. Of
his daughters, one as before stated, married John Sanborn,
and died before 1632. Theodate, married Christopher
Hussey, and died in Hampton in 1649. Deborah married
John Wing of Sandwich. On the Yarmouth town records I
find the following entry : "Old Goody Wing desesed the
last of January, '91 and '92," that it Jan'y 31, 1692, N. S.
This record probably refers to Deborah, widow of the first
John Wing. Her son John resided at Sawtucket (now
Brewster), then within the corporate jurisdiction of Yar-
mouth, and his aged mother probably resided with him.
There is no one beside to whom the record will apply. Her
age is not given, but an approximation to it may be made.
Her son Daniel of Sandwich, if he had then been living,
would have been 70 years of age, consequently the mother
must have been about 90 years of age at her death
*In preparing this article, I have consulted Gov. Winthrop's Histo-
ry, thK Ph month and Mnssachnetts Records, Felt's, Ecclesiastical His-
tory, Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, and Lewis's History of Lynn;
the latter gives the fullest sketch of the life of Mr. Bachiler yet pub-
lished. The reading of the extraats from the records, given by Mr.
Lewis, leave the impression on the mind that Mr. Bachiler was not
suoli a man as a minister of the gospel should be, A literary friend,
who for .several years has behn collecting materials for a memoir of
Mr. Bachiler, says he is not deserving of the odium which has been
heaped on his character.
BASSET.
WILLIAM BASSET.
William Basset, one of the forefathers, came over in
the ship Fortune in 1621 ; settled first in Plymouth, then in
Duxhury, and finally in Bridgewater — of which town he was
an original proprietor. He died there in 1667. He was
comparatively wealthy, being a large land-holder, only four
in Plymouth paying a higher tax in the year 1633. He had
a large library, from which it is to be inferred that he was
an educated man. In 1648, he was fined five shillings for
neglecting "to mend guns in seasonable times" — an offence
of not a very heinious character — but it shows that he was
a mechanic as well as a planter. Many of his descendants
have been large land-holders, and even to this day a Basset
who has not a good landed estate, thinks that he is misera-
bly poor.
His name is on the earliest list of freemen, made in
1633 ; he was a volunteer in the company raised in 1637, to
assist Massachusetts and Connecticut in the Pequod war ; a
member of the committee of the town of Duxbury to lay out
bounds, and to decide on the fitness of persons applying to
become residents, and was representative to the Old Colony
Court six years. His son William settled in Sandwich ;
was there in 1651, and is the ancestor of the families of that
name in that town, and of some of the families in Barnsta-
ble and Dennis. His son, Col. William Basset, was mar-
shall of Plymouth Colony at the time of the union with
Massachusetts, and in 1710, one of the Judges of the Infe-
rior Court, and afterwards Eegister of Probate. He was an
excellent penman, and wrote a very small, yet distinct and
beautiful hand, easily read. The records show that he was
a careful and correct man. He was the most distinguished
of any of the name in Massachusetts. He died in Sand-
46 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
wich, Sept. 29, 1721, in the 65th year of his age.
Elisha Basset, a grandson of Col. Basset, removed to
Dennis, then a part of Yarmouth. He was a captain in the
Provincial militia ; had three commissions, each signed by a
different Royal Governor. At the commencement of the
lievolution he was a zealous whig and surrendered his com-
mission, and was offered a captain's commission in the Con-
tinental Army ; but the circumstances of his family obliged
him to decline accepting it. He was the representative from
Yarmouth at the Provincial Congress, as it was called, which
assembled at Cambridge and Watertown in the years 1774
and 75.
Nathaniel Basset, son of the tirst William, is the ances-
tor of the Yarmouth, Chatham and Hyannis, and some of the
West Barnstable families of the name. On the 2d of March,
1651-2, "Nathaniell Basset and Joseph Prior, for disturb-
ing the church of 'Duxburrou,' on the Lord's day, were
sentenced each of them to pay twenty shillings fine, or the
next towne meeting or training day both of them to bee
bound unto a post for the space of two hours, in some public
place, with a paper on their heads on which theire capital
crime shall be written perspecusly, soe as may bee read."
Whether they paid the fines imposed, or suffered the novel
mode of punishment to which they were sentenced, does not
appear.
Nathaniel settled first in Marshfield, but removed to
Yarmouth where he was an inhabitant in 1664,. and perhaps
earlier. He resided near the first meeting-house, and his
descendants still enjoy his lands. Notwithstandino- the trifl-
ing irregularity in his conduct when a young man at Dux-
bury, he was a very worthy and respectable citizen, had a
large family — ten of whom lived to mature age. He died
January 16, 1709-10, aged 82.
No record of the family of the first William Basset has
been preserved. It appears that he was married but had no
children at the division of the land in 1623 ; but at the divis-
ion of the cattle in 1627, he had two, William and EHzabeth.
His wife was named Elizabeth, and it is stated by Jndo-e
Mitchell that she was probably a Tilden.* His children,
His wife Mary presented the inventory of his estate. May 13 1667
and took the oath required. The names of Mary and Elizabeth were
formerly considered synonymous, and it may be that Mary was not his
second wife. j ^^ uio
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE EAMILIES. 47
horn in Plymouth and Duxbury, were
I. William, born 1624, removed to Sandwich, was called
Mr., married Mary, daughter of Hugh Burt of Lynn,
and died in 1670, leaving a large estate. Had daughter
Mary born 21st November, 1654; William, 2d, 1656, and
probably others. Col. William, 3d, married Rachel, had
Mary, Oct. 20, 1676; Nathan, 1677; Eachel, Oct. 25,
1679 ; William, Jonathan, and another daughter. Wil-
liam married Abigail, daughter of Elisha Bourne, and
had Elisha, who removed to Yarmouth, and other chil-
dren. Nathan married Mary Huckins, 1690, removed to
Chilmark and had eleven children. His son Nathan
graduated at Harvard in 1719, and was afterwards set-
tled in Charleston, 8. C. An interesting account of the
Bassets of Martha's Vineyard has recently been pub-
lished by R. L. Pease, Esq. Mary, the wife of Nathan,
was a daughter of John Huckins of Barnstable, and
was brought up in the family of her grandfather. Elder
John Chipman. The account of her religious expe-
rience, written \>y herself, is a narrative of thrilling in-
terest. Jonathan married Mary , and died Dec.
13, 1683, leaving, I think, one son, Jonathan, who is
named in his grandfather's will.
H. Elizabeth, born about 1626, married Thomas Burgess,
jr., of Sandwich, 8th Nov. 1648, was divorced June
10, 1661. He removed to Rhode Island, and was a
resident at Newport in 1671, having a wife Lydia.
HI. Nathaniel, born 1628, married for his first wife a
daughter of John Joyce [Mary or Dorcas] of Yar-
mouth. His wife Hannah, who died in 1709, was prob-
ably a second wife. The record of his family is lost.
His will, dated Jan'ry 10, 1709-10, six days before his
death, is a carefully drawn instrument, witnessed by
Rev. Daniel Greenleaf, Experience Rider, and his
nephew Col. William Basset, and furnishes much gen-
ealogical information. He names his nine children then
living, says he is "aged and under much decay of
body," being then 82 years of age. To his son Wil-
liam he gave meadow and upland, which was John
Joyce's drying ground, bought of Mr. Thomas Wally,
and meadow bought of Mr. Thornton. He names the
eldest son of Thomas Mulford of Truro, who married
his daughter Mary ; the eldest son of his son Nathan-
48 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
iel; the eldest sou of his son Joseph; to Nathaniel he
gave property that was his Grandmother Joyce's, and
his lands in Middleboro'. He names his daughter-iu-law
Joannah, perhaps wife of Nathaniel, who removed to
Windham, Conn., and his daughter Euth Basset. He
gives certain property unto six of his children, Mary
Mulford, Samuel Basset, Hannah Covell, Joseph Bas-
set, Sarah Nickerson and Nathan Basset, Mr. Thomas
Mulford of Truro, and his son Joseph of Yarmouth,
Executors. Estate appraised at £228,11. One of the
oldest monuments in the Yarmouth grave-yard is that
of Dorcas Basset, who died June 9, 1707, aged 31.
She was probably a daughter of Nathaniel. Though
William is first named in the will, he was probably the
youngest son.
IV. Sarah, born about 1630, married in 1648, Peregrine
\^'hite of Marshfield, the first born of the English at
Cape Cod Harbor, Nov. 1620. Her third son Jona-
than, born June 4, 1658, is the ancestor of the White
families in Yarmouth.
His other children named aie Euth, who married John
Sprague, 1655; Jane; Joseph, who settled with his father
in Bridgewater, married Martha Hobart, 1677, and died
1712. He had Joseph, William, Elnathan, Jeremiah, Lydia,
Euth and Elizabeth. The posterity of Joseph are numer-
ous.
William, son of Nathaniel, married Feb. 23, 1710,
Martha Godfrey, and had Isaac, July 17, 1711 ; Moses,
Nov. 4, 1713 ; Fear, April 12, 1716, who married Joseph
Eogers of Harwich, Oct. 19, 1737. His second wife was
Sarah Jenkins of Barnstable, to whom he was married
Jan'y 30, 1722-3. He and his wife Sarah were dismissed
from the Yarmouth to the Barnstable Church, Aug. 1727.
His children recorded as born in Barnstable are Samuel,
Aug. 21, 1724; Experience, May 5, 1727; Mary, May 18,
1729, and Nathaniel, Sept. 4, 1732. Only the two last
were baptized in Barnstable. He had probably another son,
William, born in Yarmouth, who married May 8, 1741,
Margaret Merryfield. The Bassets of West Barnstable are
descendants of William, son of Nathaniel, and of Samuel of
Yarmouth, a great-grandson of Col. William of Sandwich.
This Samuel married June 15, 1743, Susannah Lumbard of
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 49
Truro, and had born in Barnstable, Xehemiah, Sept. 22,
1743; Ebenezer, Dec. 27, 1744, and probably others.
There was also a Nathan Basset, jr., called of Middleboro',
who settled at West Barnstable and married Oct. 25, 1739,
Thankful Fuller, and had born in Barnstable, Nathan, Dec.
30, 1750, and Cornelius, Jan'y 20, 1753, and perhaps
others.
Joseph, son of Nathaniel, is the ancestor of the Yai"-
mouth and Hyannis families. He married Feb. 27, 1706-7,
Susannah Howes, she died Feb. 27, 1718-19, and he mar-
ried for his second wife Thankful Hallet, Dec. 3, 1719.
His childre>i were Sarah, born Dec. 10, 1707, died July 3,
1736; Joseph, June 15, 1709; Daniel, Nov. 17, 1710;
Joshua, Sept. 13, 1712; Susannah, Jan. 22, 1714-15, mar-
ried JohnHawes, Jan'y 2, 1732; Samuel, Oct. 23, 1716, a
whaleman died unmarried, 1740 ; John, Dec. 14, 1720 ;
Ebenezer, July 9, 1722, died Aug. 16, 1723 ; Thankful, mai--
ried 1750, Joshua Brimhall of Hingham, and Nathan, Oct.
17, 1725.
Mrs. Thankful Basset died Aug. 12, 1736, and Mr.
Joseph Basset, Jan'y 6, 1749-50.
Joseph Basset, son of Joseph, married Feb. 25, 1737,
Mary Whelden. He died Sept. 5, 1833, aged 94. He had
1st, Joseph, Dec. 23, 1738, who inherited the paternal es-
tate ; married three times. One of his wives was a daugh-
ter of Capt. John Bearse, who came over as a revenue offi-
cer before the lievolution. He bought the Kev. Mr. Smith's
house, in Yarmouth, where Joseph Basset and Elisha Doane
afterwards kept a public house. He had two children who
lived to mature age, Susannah, who married the late Elisha
Doane, Esq., and Joseph, now living, unmarried, on the
Basset farm. 2d, Mary, Oct. 20, 1744, married Edward
Sturgis, jr., Jan'y 28, 1767. 3d, Jonathan, Nov. 10, 1746,
and Samuel, Dec. 4, 1748, both of whom removed to Hal-
lowell, Maine.
Daniel Basset, son of Joseph, married July 1, 1735,
Elizabeth, daughter of Seth Crowell, and had one son,
Daniel, born Aug^ 7, 1736. The father died soon after and
his widow married in 1742, Hezekiah Marchant, and re-
moved to Hyannis. Daniel, the grandfather of the present
Hon. Zenas D. Basset, resided at Hyannis, and is the an-
cestor of the Bassets in that vicinity. He married a daugh-
50 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
ter of Jabez Bearae, and had sons Joseph, Daniel and Seth.
He was a Lieutenant in the Continental Army. Joseph, his
son who enlisted as a soldier, but served in the capacity of
waiter to his father, was one of the last surviving revolu-
tionary pensioners of the town of Barnstable. He died July
7, 1855, aged 93. He married two wives and was the father
of twenty-four children, of whom the Hon. Zenas D. is the
oldest. One of his wives had four children by a former hus-
band, so that in fact there were twenty-eight in his family
who called him father.
Joshua, son of Joseph, was an ensign in Col. Gorham's
llegiment in the expedition to Louisburg, in 1745. He
married in 1738, Hannah Brimhall of Hingham, and had
Sarah, Oct. 28, 1739; Susannah, May 16, 1741; Anna,
March 3, 1742-3, and Joshua, Nov. 18, 1744. The latter
probably died young.
Nathan Basset, son of Joseph, lived in the ancient
Hallet house, situated nearly opposite the Barnstable Bank.
He married first, Hannah Hallet, 1751, by whom he had
seven children, and second, Desire, widow of Prince Crow-
ell. He had 1st, John, Nov. 4, 1753, who has no descend-
ants now living; 2d, Thankful, Nov. 3, 1756, who died
young; 3d, Joseph, Feb. 13, 1759; 4th, Ebenezer, May
24, 1761 ; 5th, Thankful, Sept. 19, 1763, married Ebenezer
Taylor ; 6th, Francis, Jan'y 14, 1766 ; 7th, Joshua, Aug. 7,
1768, father of the present Capt. Joshua Basset.
Nathan Basset, son of Nathaniel, is the ancestor of the
Chatham and Harwich families. He married March 7, 1709,
Mary, daughter of Thomas Crowell of Yarmouth, He died
in 1728, leaving seven children. She died in 1742, and
names in her will sons Nathan, Thomas, Nathaniel, who
married Sarah Chase of Yarmouth, Aug. 23, 1729, Samuel,
and daughters Mary Basset, Dorcas Nickerson and Hannah
Co veil.
Capt. Elisha Basset of Sandwich, grandson of Col.
William, married Ruhama, daughter of Samuel Jennings of
Sandwich, and removed to Dennis, then Yarmouth. His
children, born in Yarmouth, were, 1st, Lydia, Aug. 14,
1740, married Abraham Howes, 1761 ; 2d, Abigail, Jan'y
30, 1742 ; 3d, Elisha, March 14, 1744-5, who removed with
his family to Ashfield in 1797, where he has descendants;
4th, Samuel, April 17, 1747, who went to Barnstable; 5th,
William, June 22, 1750, married Betty Howes, and had one
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 51
son, the Hon. Francis Basset, whose parent died when he
was a child ; 6th, Deborah, Oct. 30, 1752 ; 7tii, Lot, Jan'y
22, 1755.
Note. — I intended in this series of articles to write sketches of the
families of the first comers, and of no other. I have been induced to
depart from that rule in this instance. Nearly all of the materials
used in preparing this article I collected fifteen years ago, and I am
aware that it is not so full or so accurate as it might be made. Hon.
Francis Basset has an extended memoir of his family, which he has
spent much time in preparing, and I presume will publish it at some
fuuire time.
BEARSE.
AUSTIN OR AUGUSTINE BEAESE.
Austin or Augustine Bearae, the ancestor of this family,
came over in the ship Confidence of London, from South-
ampton, 24th April, lI'SS, and was then twenty years of
age. He came to Barnstable with the first company in 1639.
His house lot, containing twelve acres of very rocky land,
was in the westerly part of the East Parish, and was bounded
westerly by John Crocker's land, now owned by his heirs,
northerly by the meadow, easterly by Goodman Isaac Eob-
inson's land, and "southerly into ye woods." He owned
six acres of meadow adjoining his upland on the north, and
two thatch islands, still known as Bearse's islands. He had
also six acres of land in the Calves Pasture, esteemed to be
the best soil in the town, eight acres of planting land on the
north side of Shoal pond, and bounded by Goodman Coop-
er's, now called Huckins' Neck, and thirty acres at the
Indian pond, bounded easterly by the Herring River. The
Indian pond lot he sold to Thomas Allyn, who sold the
same in 1665 to Roger Goadspeed.
He was proposed to, be admitted a freeman June 3,
1652, and admitted May 3, following. His name rarely oc-
curs in the records. He was a grand juror in 1653 and
1662, and a surveyor of highways in 1674.
He became a member of Mr. Lothrop's church, April
29, 1643. His name stands at the head of the list, he being
the first named who joined after its removal to Barnstable.*
He appears to have been very exact in the performance of
his religious duties, causing his children to be baptized on
the Sabbath next following the day of their birth. His son
*Since writing tbis passage I have become satisfied that there is an
omission in the Uape Church records preserved 1642, of members ad-
mitted in 1640 and 1641.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 53
Joseph was hoi-n on Sunday, Jan'y 25, 1651, O. S., and
was carried two miles to the church and baptized the same
day. Many believed in those times that children dying un-
baptized were lost, and it was consequently the duty of the
parent to present his child early for baptism. Goodman
Bearse was influenced by this feeling; he did not wish, -by
a week's delay, to peril the eternal salvation ot his child.
Now such an act would l)e pronounced unnecessary and
ciuel.
The subject of baptism had disturbed Mr. Lothrop's
church from its organization. In London the Baptists
quietly separated themselves and formed the flrst Baptist
Church in England. In iScituate the same question arose,
di.sturl)ing the harmony of the church, and to avoid these
troubles, Mr. Lothrop and a majority of his church came to
Barnstable. His book on the subject of baptism, printed in
London, was written and prepared for the press while he
was in Barnstable. I have not met with a copy, but inci-
dentally from his records, I infer that he considered baptism
an ordinance of primary importance, and that the parent,
being a church member, who unnecessarily delayed the
performance, thereby periled the salvation of the child.
Some of the old divines taught this doctrine, and at the
present day it is not entirely obsolete.
Goodman Bearse was brought up under such teachings,
and however differently the present generation may view
such questions, he did what he honestly believed to be his
duty, and he that does that is to be justified.
He was one of the very few against whom no complaint
was ever made ; a fact which speaks well for his character as
a man and a citizen. He was a farmer, lived on the produce
of his land, and brought up his large family to be like him-
self, useful members of society. His house stood on the
north side of the road, and his cellar and some remains of
his orchard, existed at the commencement of the present
century. I find no record of his death, or settlement of his
estate on the Probate records. He was living in 1686 ; but
died before the year 1697. A road from his house to Hyan-
nis is still known as Bearse's Way. His grandsons settled
early at Hyannis. John Jenkins and John Dexter after-
vt^ards owned the ancient homestead. The planting lands at
Shoal Pond were occupied by his descendants till recently.
The marriage of Goodman Austin Bearse is not on rec-
54 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
ord. His children, born in Barnstable, were
I. Mary, born 1640, bap'd May 6, 1643.
II. Martha, born 1642, bap'd May 6, 1643.
III. Priscilla, born March 10, 1643-4, bap'd March 11,
1643-4, married Dea. John Hall, jr., of Yarmouth,
1660.
IV. Sarah, born March 28, 1646, bap'd March 29, mar-
ried John Hamblin of Bai-nstable, Aug. 1667, and
had twelve children.
V. Abigail, born Dec. 18, 1647, bap'd Dec. 19, married
April 12, 1670, Allen Nichols of Barnstable, and had
nine children.
VI. Hannah, born Nov. 16, 1649, bap'd Nov. 18.
VII. Joseph, born Jan'y 25, 1651-2, bap'd same day, mar-
ried Dec. 3, 1676. Martha Taylor.
VIII. Hester, born Oct. 2, 1653, bap'd same day.
IX. Lydia, born end of Sept. 1655.
X. Rebecca,, born Sept. 1657, married Feb. 1670-1,
William Hunter. Additional investigation will prob-
ably show the above to be an error of the record.
William Hunter of Sandwich, married liebecca,
daughter of Wid. Jane Besse, who married second,
the notorious Marshall George Barlow. If the record
is correct, she was only 13 years, 5 months old when
married.
XI. James, born end of July, 1660. He was admitted a
townsman in 1683, being then only 23 years of age.
In the division of the meadows in 1694, he had four
acres, and in the final division in 1697, the same
number was confirmed to him. In the division of the
common lands in 1703, his name does not appear ac-
cording to the rules adopted for the admission of
townsmen, and the division of common land ; the
above facts indicate that James Bearse was married in
1683, as no unmarried men were admitted townsmen
till 24 years of age ; that he was a man who had
good property, (2 1-2 or 3 being the average), this
proportion indicates, and his name not appearing on
the list in 1703, shows that he was then dead or had
removed from town. There was a Bearse family
early in Halifax, Plymouth county. An Austin
Bearse is named who removed to Cornwall, Nova
Scotia. Andrew Bearse of Halifax, Plymouth county,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 55
raaiTied Margaret Dawes of East Bridewater, 1736.
There were others of the name in Halifax. It is
probable that James, son of Austin, removed to that
town.
Joseph Bearse, son of Austin, probably was a soldier in
King Philip's war, his sons having rights in the town of
Gorham, granted to the heirs of the soldiers who served
with Capt. Gorhara. He married Dec. 3, 1676, Martha
Taylor, daughter of Richard of Yarmouth, a "tailor" by
trade, and so called to distinguish him from another of the
same name called "Kock."' He died about the year 1695.
She died January 27, 1727-8, aged 77 years.
Children born in Barnstable:
I. Mary, born Aug. 16, 1677. 8he did not marry —
was admitted to the East Church, 1742, and died
Jan'y 19, 1760, aged 84 years.
n. Joseph, born Feb. 21, 1679. He was one of the
Grantees of Gorham, and his name is on the list of
the first settlers in that town, dated 1733. He re-
sided at Hyannis before his removal to Maine.
ni. Benjamin, born June 21, 1682, married, Feb. 4,
1701-2, Sarah Cobb, second, Anna Nickerson of
Chatham.
IV. Priscilla, born Dec. 31, 1683, died March 31, 1684.
V. EI)enezer, born Jan'y 20, 1687, married Nov. 25,
1708, Elizabeth Cobb, and second Joanna Lumbert,
Sept. 4, 1712.
VI. John, born May 8, 1687, married Nov. 15, 1711,
Elinor Lewis.
VII. Josiah, born March 10, 1690, married first, Nov. 2,
1716, Zeurich Newcomb of Edgartown, and second
Mary. Removed to Gi'eenwich, Conn., 1734.
VIII. James, born Oct. 3, 1692, married Mary Fuller,
March 17, 1719-20.
Benjamin Bearse. son of Joseph, was one of the early
settlers at Hyannis. His homestead was bounded east by
David Hallet's land, the corner being two rods from Hallet's
house, and is now owned by his descendants. In his will
dated March 26, 1748, proved on the 7th of July following,
he named his sons Augustine, Benjamin, Joseph, Samuel,
Peter and Stephen; his daughters Martha Lewis, Priscilla
Lewis, Sarah Nickerson and Thankful Nickerson, and his
50 GENEALOGICAL NoTES OF BARNSTABLE I'AMILIES..
wife Anna, to whom he gave all the household goods she
brought with her, and the imj)rovement of one-third of all
his real and personal estate. To Augustine he ga\e land
bounded S. E. and N. by the heirs of Jonathan Lewis, de-
ceased ; to Joseph and Samuel his house and orchard ; to
Peter a house and one acre of land on the north side of the
road; to Stephen and Benjamin all his lands m Gorham
town ; to Joseph, Peter and Samuel all the rest of his real
and personal estate, they paying debts, legacies, and allow-
ing Augustine a convenient way to the landing "where I
make oysters," and a place to land and dry fish ; to Benja-
min, Martha and Priscilla £12 old tenor each ($5.33), and
to Sarah and Thankful £2 each, a bed and other articles to
be divided equally. His personal estate was appraised at
£431, 16,9., 6p., and his real estate at £910, and his mu-
latto boy Tom at £()() — all I presume in old tenor currency,
corn being appraised at £1 per bushel — that is 50 coppers
equal to 44 cents.
He was engaged in the fisheries, and the soccess ot*
himself and sons was sung b}' some contemporar}' trouba-
dour, whose verses are remembered though the name of the
poet is forgotten. He married first, Sarah, daughter of
Samuel Cobb, Feb, 4, 1701-2, she died Jmiuary 14, 1742,
and he married in 1747 his second wife, Anna Nickerson of
Chatham. He died May 15, 1748, aged 66, and is buried
with his first wife in the old graVe-yard in Hyannis, where
their son Samuel caused grave stones to be erected to their
memory.
Children of benjamin Bearse born in Barnstable :
1. Martha, born 9th Nov. , 1702, married Antipas Lewis,
Oct. 15, 1730.
H. Augustine, born 3d June, 1704, married June 3,
■1728, Bethia, daughter of John Linnell, she died 7th
Oct., 1743, aged 39, and he married Sept. 7, 1744,
for his second wife. Thankful, widow of Nathaniel
Bacon. He died June 2, 1751, aged 47, and his
widow, Nov. 1774, aged 70. He resided at first at
1 Hyannis, perhaps after his second marriage, with his
wife at Barnstable. He was engaged in the whale
, fishery and owned try-works which were sold after
his death. He had seven children, all of whom are
named in his will. 1. Prince, born 12th March
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 57
1730-1, married Desire Downs, 1754; 2d, Temper-
ance, 17th INIarch, 1732-3, married Lemuel Lewis,
March 7, 1750; 3d, Mercv, 9th March, 1734-5, mar-
ried Feb. 20, 1752, Thomas Buck; 4th, Lydia, 25th
Dec, 1736; 5th, Simeon, 27th June, 1739; 6th,
Sarah bap'd March 9th, 1745-6, married Samuel
Bearse Nov. 15, 1764; Levi, bap'd Oct. 25, 1747.
III. Elizabeth, 3d May, 1706, probably died young.
IV. Joseph, 30th Oct". 1708, married Lydia Deane Oct.
12, 1749, died in 1751, leavinsj a son Joseph, bau'd
Apl. 14, 1754. She married Feb. 17, 1756, Thomas
Annis.
V. Benjamin, 26th March, 1710. He was a blacksmith,
and married Jean or Jane, daughter of Moses God-
frey of Chatham, to which town he removed, and is
the ancestor of the Bearse families in that town. He
died in 1753, letiving widow Jean, sons Jonathan,
George, Benjamin, David and Moses, and daughters
Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Eldridge, Hannah, Sarah
and Martha. His real estate was appraised at £399,
lis., and his personal estate at £204, 2s., Sd., prob-
ably in lawful money.
VI.; Jesse, 22d Oct., 1712, probably died young.
VII, Priscilla, 5th June, 1713, married Oct. 16, 1735,
Elnathan Lewis.
Villi David, 27th March, 1716, probably died younsr.
IX. \ Peter, 25:h Oct., 1718, mariied Xov 12,'l74l', Deb-
orah, diughter of Capt. Samuel Bacon, and had 1st,
Samuel, lOth Sept., 1742, who married Nov. 15,
[1764, Sarah Bearse; 2d, Jesse, 2d Nov. 1743; 3d,
)avid, 20th Nov., 1745; 4th, Edward, 12th June,
L750.
Samuel, 9th Dec, 1720, died Oct. 30, 1751, aged 30
wears. He resided in Yarmouth at the time of his
death, and in his will dated 15th Oct., 1751, he or-
ders tomb-stones to be placed at the graves of his
fafther Benjamin and mother Sarah. He devises his
estate to his brothers, sisters and cousins [nephews] .
To\his cousin [nephew] Samuel, son of his brother
Peter, his gold buttons.
Xli Sarah, 5th July, 1722, married Ebenezer Nickerson
of Tarmouth, Feb. 17, 1744.
58 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Xn. Thankful, Feb. 4, 1724, inarried Shobael Nickerson,
i\larch (), 1746.
XIII. Stephen, named in his father's will, but I lind noth-
ing farther respecting him.
Ebenezer Bearse, son of Joseph, married 25th Nov.,
1708, Elizabeth, daughter of Sairiuel Cobb. She died 15th
July, 1711, and he married Joanna Lambert, Sept. 4, 1712.
He died Feb. 1759, and his widow being "non compus,'"
had a guardian appointed May 9, 1759. In his will he
names his grandsons Daniel and Solomon, children of his
son Stephen, deceased, his son Ebenezer, and daughters
Bethiah Lovell, Abigail Lewis, Elizabeth Basset and Ruth
Pitcher.
Uhildren born in Barnistahle.
I. Bethiah. born (jth Aug., 1709, married John Lovell
Nov. 14, 1732.
II. Samuel, 26th Feb., 1711. His grandfather Coi)b
gave him a legacy in his will, and his father was ap-
pointed his guardian March 27, 1728. He probably
died unmarried.
III. Elizabeth, 22d March, 1714, died young.
IV. Abigail, 22d Nov., 1715, married Melatiah Lewis,
Oct. I, 1742.
V. Ebenezer, 1st March, 1717, married Mary Berry of
Yarmouth, 1754.
VI. Daniel, 17th July, 1720. Probably died young.
VII. Stephen, born 1st Oct., 1721, married Hannah Cole-
man, June 9, 1748, and had sons Daniel and Solo-
mon, named in their grandfather's will.
VIII. Rebecca, born 3d June, 1725. Probably died young.
IX. Patience, bap'd 6th April, 1729. Probably died
young.
X. Elizabeth, bap'd 19th Oct., 1729, married Nathaniel
Basset of Rochester, 1752.
XI. Ruth, bap'd 2d June, 1734, married Jonathan Pitcher,
Feb. 9, 1758.
John Bearse, son of Joseph, married Eleanor Lew-
is 15th Nov., 1711. He died May 3, 1760, aged 72. His
children were Lydia, born 28th July, 1712, who married
Capt. John Cullio, a Scotchman, Jan'y 1, 1735 ; John, who
married Lydia Lumbert, Feb. 12, 1746 ; Hannah, who
married Jabez Bearse, March 26, 1761, second wife; Elea-
GENEALOGICAL XOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 59
nor, who married John Loggee, Jan'y 13, 1753; Martha,
who married Isaac Lewis, F'eb. 10, 1748 ; Mary and Dinah.
Josiiah Boart<e, son of Jo8e])h, married Zerviah New-
corab, hy whom he had no children, and second Mary. He
was dismis-:ed from the East Barnstable Church to the
Church in Greenwich, Conn., Dec. 29, 1734, and afterwards
to New Fairlield, in the same 8tate. His children born in
Barnstable were Anna, 11th Jul}', 1719; Josiah, 3d Feb.,
17-20-1; Eunice, 2d Jan'ry, 1722-3, died April (5, 1727;
Jonathan, born 22d Nov. ,1724, died Dec. 2, 1731; Lois,
born 17th July, 172« ; Thomas, 10th March, 1728-9, and
Eunice, 13th Feb., 1731-2; Martha, June 26, 1738; Mary,
May 8, 1741.
James Bearse, son of Joseph, married March 19, 1719-
20, Mary Fuller, and second. Thankful Linnell in 1726.
He died Oct. 11, 1758, aged G6. In his will dated 13th
Sept., 1758, he gives to his v/ife Thankful, his Indian maid
servant Thankful Pees, and other pi-operty in lieu of dower.
To his son Jabez, the estate that was Augustine Bearse's,and
one-half of the cedar swamp near his house ; to his daughter
Thankful Lumbert, £20 lawful money, and one-fourth of
his in-door moveables ; and to Lemuel all the rest of his es-
tate. His children born in Barnstable were
I. Jabez, 20th Feb., 1720-1. married Nov. 26, 1747,
Elizabeth Hallet, and second, March 26, 1761, Hannah
Bearse.
II. James, 3d Feb., 1728-9, died Sept. 29, 1729.
III. Lemuel, 3d May, 1731, married Patience Phinney,
April 30, 1761.
IV. Thankful, 1st Aug., 1736, married Lemuel Lumbert,
Sept. 20, 1753.
BAKER.
The Baker families in Barnstable and West Barnstable,
are descendants of Rev. Nicholas Baker of Scituate ; the
Hyannis families from Francis, who settled in Yarmouth.
Rev. Nicholas Baker was a graduate of St. John's Col-
lege, Cambridge, England, had his Batchelor's degree in
1(331-2, and Master of Arts, 1635. His brother Nathan-
iel came over with him and both settled at Hingham in 1635.
He received a share in the first division of house lots in that
town. He afterwards became a large landholder in Hull.
He was ordained in Scituate in 1660, where he was instru-
mental in effecting a reconciliation of the two churches
which had held no conmiunication with each other for twen-
ty-five years. Cotton Mather says : "Honest Nicholas Ba-
ker of Scituate, was so good a logician that he could oifer
up to God a reasonable service, so good an arithmetician
that he could wisely number his days, and so good an ora-
tor that he persuaded himself to be a Christian." He died
Aug. 22, 1678, aged 67, of "that horror of mankind, and
rein'oach of medicine, the stone," a memorable example of
patience under suffering.
He was twice married. His first wife died at Scituate
in 1661, and he married the following year his second wife
Grace, who died in Barnstable, January 22, 1696-7. In his
will dated 1678, he names his wife Grace, whom he appoint-
ed executrix, his brother Nathaniel Baker, his sons Samuel
and Nicholas, and four daughters, namely, Mary, who mar-
ried Stephen Vinal, 26th Feb., 1662; Elizabeth, married
1664, John Vinal ; Sarah, married Josiah Litchfield, and
Deborah married 1678, Israel Chittenden.
Samuel, to whom his father gave an estate in Hull, Mas
a freeman of that town in 1677. He married Fear, daugh-
ter of Isaac Robinson, and had a family. May 12, 1687, he
was admitted an inhabitant of Barnstable, and the same year
he and his wife were admitted to the Barnstable Church by
dismission from the Church at Hull. The veneral)le Isaac
Robinson resided a year or two at the close of his life with
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 61
his daughter Fear, and the fact that the widow Grace Baker
had also resided in this family, probably gave rise to the
tradition that Isaac Robinson's mother came over with him,
and died in Barnstable.
I find no record of the children of Samuel and Fear
Baker. Deacon John and Nathaniel were their sons, and
Mary, who married Oct. 26, 1699, Adam Jones, and Grace,
who married Dec. 16, 1701, Israel Luce, were probably
their daughters.
Deacon John Baker married 14th Oct. 1696, Anna,
daughter of Samuel Annable. She died March 21, 1732-3,
"aged near 57 ^'ears," and was buried in the ancient grave-
yard at West Barnstable. After the death of his wife he
removed to Windham, Conn.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Annah, 8th Sept., 1697, married Oct. 17, 1717, Capt.
Samuel Lombard. She died May 19, 1747.
II. Mary, 18th Aug., 1699, married April 20, 1720, Ben-
jamin Lothrop, and afterwards removed to Connec-
ticut.
III. John, 14th June, 1701, Died young.
IV. Eebecca, 8th Sept . 1704.
V. Samuel, 7th Sept., 1706, married May St), 1732,
Prudence Jenkins ; had 1st, Martha, 24th Jan'y,
1732-3; 2d, Anna, 12th May, 1735; 3d,,Bethia,
12th June, 1737; 4th, Samuel, 30th Sept., 1740;
5th, Mercy, 30th May, 1743. This family removed
to Windham, Conn.
VI. Mary, 25th March, 1710, married Lemuel Hedge of
Yarmouth, 1733.
VII. Mehitabel, 7lh May 1712, married Eben'r Crosby of
Yarmouth, Jan'y 10, 1734.
VIII. Abigail, 1st Feb., 1713-4, married Ichabod Lathrop
of Tolland, Conn., Nov. 9, 1732.
IX. John, 1st Dec, 1716, married Mercy Gary of Wind-
ham, Conn., Dec. 7, 1744.
X. Hannah, 24th March, 1718.
Nathaniel Baker resided in the East Parish, his house,
yet remaining, is on Baker's Lane. His first wife, the
mother of all his children, is not named on the record, tie
married 5th Jan'y, 1718-19, AVid. Mercy Lewis. He died
in 1750, and his widow, Dec. 7, 1768, aged 80, according to
(32 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
the Church records ; but according to the town records, she
was older.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Benney, born 15th Aug., 1705, died June, 1706.
II. Mercy, born 4th Feb." 1706, married Nov. 7, 1728,
Sylvanus Cobb, and had eight children.
III. Sarah, born 4th Oct., 1708, died Nov. 19, 1708.
IV. Nathaniel, born 15th Dec, 1709, married 1732, Ann
Lumbard of Newtown, and had 1st, Isaac, born 2d
April, 1734; 2d, Mercy, Gth May, 1738; 3d, Benne,
2d Oct., 1751 ; 4th, Anna, 18th Jan'y, 1754. Isaac
of this family married Rebecca Lewis, Oct. 6, 1754,
and had Rebecca, James, Lewis, Ezekiel, Nathaniel,
John, who removed to Brewster, and Isaac who died
in Barnstable, unmarried, about 20 years ago.
V. Nicholas, born Gth Nov., 1711, 'married Dorcas Back-
us of Sandwich, was of Dighton, removed to Barn-
stable in 1635. He was a mariner, and died Jan'y
31, 1739-40. He had 1st, Nath'l who died young ;
2d, Ebenezer, and 3d, David.
VI. Sarah, 2d Nov., 1713, married Oct. 26, 1732, Jona.
Sturgis.
VII. Thankful, 28th March, 1715, married Jan'y 1, 1734,
Jesse Cobb.
VIII. Benne, 28th Sept., 1716, married Patience Lumbard,
Nov. 19, 1741. He died 29th Dec, 1747, and she
died 28th Dec, 1748, leaving two orphan children,
John, born 3d Jan'y, 1743, and Thankful, born 29th
June, 1745 — both of whom married and had families.
IX. Elizabeth, born 9th March, 1718, married Benjamin
Nye, Jr., of Falmouth, Sept. 28, 1738.
There are very few descendants of Honest Nicholas
Baker, now remaining in Barnstable. Dea. John, who re-
moved to Windham, Conn., was a prominent man; but the
other members of the family have not been distinguished.
The Baker families at Hyannis are descendants of Fran-
cis, who settled in Yarmouth.. Their pedigree is as follows :
Francis Baker, from Great St. Albans, Hertfordshire, Eno--
land, came over in the Planter, 1635, aged 24, married in
1641, Isabel Twining, and had six sons and two dauo-hters.
Nathaniel, his eldest son, born March 27, 1642, had three
sons; Samuel, the eldest, born Oct. 29, 1670, married July
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 63
30, 1702, Elizabeth Berry, and had three sons and five
daughters ; the eldest son, Judah, born Aug. 19, 1705,
married Feb. 15, 1728-9, Mercy Burgess, and had three
sons and five daughters ; the oldest son, Timothy, born Ap.
21, 1732, married , 1753, Kezia, and had six sons
(one of whom v/as the father of the present Capt. Timothy
Baker), and three daughters.
The descendants of Francis Baker of Yarmouth, may
be numbered by tens of thousands. Xone have l)een very
much distinguished ; but among them will be found very
many able seamen, and good business men.
BARKER AND BORDEN.
John Barker, Sen., of Duxhni-y, married in 1632, Ann,
daughter of John William.s, Sen., of Scitiiate. He removed
to Marshfield, then called Kexamc, in 1(338, and was drowned
in 1652. He had children Deborah, John, Williams, and
perhaps others. His widow Ann married Abraham Blush
of Barnstable, and died Feb. 16, 1657-.S. Deborah came to
Barnstable with her mother and probably her son .John. At
fourteen John chose his n.ncle, Capt. John Williams of Scit-
nate, his guardian, with the understanding that he should be
brought up to some trade or profitable employment. After
he l)ecame of age, John sued his uncle, who was a man of
great wealth, for wages during his minority, averring that
his uncle had violated his contract ; that he had not brought
him up to a trade that would be of use to him, and that his
uncle had kept hmi employed in menial duties, and there-
fore he was entitled towages. He also brought an action
for rents collected from his estate in Marshfield, during his
minority, and his uncle brought an action against him for
slander. The details of these actions occupy much space on
the records. They were finally settled by the good offices
of mutual friends. Afterwards he had another lawsuit with
his uncle, making it evident that they did not live together
on terms of amity or friendship.
He was a sergeant in Philip's war, probably in the
company of which his uncle was captain, and was severelj'
wounded in an engagement with the Indians, from the effects
of which it seems he never entirely recovered, for in 1680
he was freed from serving in the ti-ain bands on account of
the injury received. He removed from Scituate in 1676 or
7, and resided in Barnstable till 1683, and perhaps later,
when he removed to Marshfield, of which town he was the
deputy in 1689, and soon after returned to Scituate, where
he died Dec. 1729, aged nearly 30 years.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 65
John Barker, Esq., was a prominent man in the Colony.
He was often engaged as an attorney for parties in the tran-
saction of legal and other business ; was a referee in many
important cases. Though a resident of Barnstable, only
when young, and for about ten years after the time of his
marriage, he was not entirely disconnected with the business
of the town and county, after his removal. He was one of
the referees in the important case between the Winslows and
Clarks, which alienated those families and made their de-
scendants bitter enemies for more than a century.
The account which Mr. Deane gives of this family will
not bear the test of criticism. He says that Williams Bar-
ker was a son of John Barker, Esq., second of the name,
and that Capt. John Williams gave his farm in Scituate to
Williams Barker. The latter was a brother, not a son of
John Barker, 2d. Capt. Williams in his will, gives to
"Nephew Williams Barker, son of John Barker of Marsh-
field, the 200 acre farm formerly purchased of Mr. Hath-
erly." He also gives legacies to nephews John Barker of
Marshfield and Abraham Blush of Boston.
It can be shown by the Barnstable town records that if
John Barker, 2d., had a son Williams, he could not have
been over six years of age at the date of Capt. John Wil-
liams' will in 1691 ; yet Mr; Deane assures us that Samuel
Barker, Esq., only son of Williams Barker, was born in the
year 1684; that is, that Samuel was only one year younger
than his father Williams. If this is true, the Barkers of
early times were a more prolific race than the present John
Barker of Bwnstable.
The following account of his family is principally ob-
tained from the Barnstable town records. He married Jan.
18, 1676-7, Desire, youngest daughter of Anthony Annable
of Barnstable. She died, according to the inscription on her
grave-stones, at Scituate, July 24, 1706, in the 53d year of
her age. He married the same year for his second wife
Hannah, daughter of Thomas Loring of Hingham, and widow
of Eev. Jeremiah Gushing of Scituate. She died May 30,
1710, aged 46, and he took for his third wife Sarah ,
who died Sept. 7, 1730.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. John, born 4th May, 1678. He married in 1706, Han-
nah, daughter of Eev. Jeremiah Gushing, whose widow
66 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
had married, as above stated, his father. This is the
statement of iMr. Savage, and I think reliable, though
in direct conflict with the account given by Mr. Deane.
II. Desire, born 22d Sept., 1680.
III. Anne, 26th Aug., 1682, died 22d Nov., 1682.
IV. Anne, born 1st Nov., 1683.
He probably had other children after his removal from
Barnstable. His sister Deborah married William Barden,
Burden or Borden. He was, perhaps, one of the youths of
fourteen years of age, of good habits, sent over to be bound
out as apprentices. He came over probably in 1638, and
was bound to Thomas Boardman of Plymouth, to learn the
trade of a carpenter, Jan'y 10, 1638-9 ; six and one-half
years of the term of his apprenticeship being unexpired,
Boardman released him, and he was bound to John Barker
of Marshfield, to learn the trade of a bricklayer. After the
expiration of his apprenticeship, he went to Concord, then
a mere settlement, and after his marriage he resided a short
time in Duxbury. From Barnstable he removed to Middle-
borough, his wife being dismissed from the Barnstable
Church to Middleborough in 1683. 31st Oct., 1666, John
Bates and William Barden were fined 3 shillings, 4 pence
each for "breaking the King's peace by striking each other.
Burden was drunk at the time, and was fined 5 shillings be-
side, and Bates was ordered by the Court to pay Burden 20
shillings for abusing him."
He married Feb., 1660, Deborah Barker, and had
children born in Barnstable, namely :
I. Mercy, born 1st Nov., 1662.
II. Deborah, 28th June, 1665.
III. John, 17th March, 1667-8.
IV. Stephen, 15th April, 1669.
V. Abraham, 14th May, 1674.
VI. Joseph, Sept., 1675.
VII. Anna, 26th Aug., 1677.
John "Bardon," son of William, had John, born May
1, 1704, in Middleborough, Ichabod, Dec. 18, 1705.
Stephen "Borden," son of William of Middleborouo-h,
had Sarah, Apl. 30, 1695 ; William, Mar. 2, 1697 ; Abigail,
Mar. 3, 1698-9; Stephen, May, 1701; Timothy, Jan'y 3,'
1703-4; Mary, Oct. 27, 1705, and Hannah, March 13
1707-8\
Abraham, son of William, married Mary Booth, 1697.
OENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 1)7
Perhaps the reader may think I am severe in my criti-
cisms on the Rev. Mr. Deane. Ail I do is to take his own
statements and place them in a position where their absurd-
ity will be seen. No one has a higher respect for Mr. Deane
than the writer. He was a pioneer in the work, and the
wonder is that he has made so few, rather than so many
mistakes.
In his article on the Gushing family, he says that Sam-
uel Barker, Esq., was a son of John Barker, Esq., and that
he married in 1706, Hannah Cushing. This is much more
probable than his other statement that Samuel was the son
of Williams.
The children of this Samuel were, Samuel, Ignatius,
Ezekiel, Hannah and Deborah. Samuel manned Deborah
Gorham of Barnstable. The Crocker's at West Barnstable
are also connected by marriage with the Barkers.
The Bordens of Fall River probably descend from Ste-
phen, son of William of Barnstable, and not from the Rhode
Island families of the name.
BODFISH.
The ancestor of this family wrote his name "Rob-
ert Botfish," yet on the records it is written Botfish, Bot-
ffish, Bodfish, Badfish, Bootfish and Boatfish. He was early
at Lynn, a freeman May 5th, 1635, and of Sandwich in 1637,
of which town he was one of the original proprietors. The
Indian title to the lands in Sandwich was purchased by
William Bradford and his partners of the old Plymouth
Company in 1637, for £16, 19 shillings, payable "in com-
odities," and Jan'y 24, 1647-8, they assigned their rights to
Edmund Freeman, and on the 26th of February following,
he assigned the same to George Allen, John Vincent, Wil-
liam Newland, Robert Botfish. Anthony Wright and Rich-
ard Bourne, a committee of the proprietors of the town of
Sandwich. In 1640, the meadow lands were divided, giv-
ing to each in proportion to his "quality and condition."
Robert Bodfish had five acres assigned to him, a little less
than an average amount.
Jan'y 1, 1638-9, Robert Bodfish "desired to become a
freeman of the Plymouth Colony ; in 1641 he tvas a sur-
veyor of highways; in 1644 on the grand jury, and the
same year licensed "to draw wine in Sandwich." He died
in 1651, leaving a wife Bridget, who became Dec 15, 1657,
the second wife of Samuel Hinckley (the father of Governor
Thomas.) He had a son Joseph, born in Sandwich April 3,
1651, a daughter Mary, who married Nov., 1659, John
Crocker, and Sarah, who married June 21, 1663, Peter
Blossom, and a son Robert, who did not become an in-
habitant of Barnstable. The family removed to Barnstable
in 1657.
Joseph, the ancestor of all ot the name in Barnstable,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 69
married Elizabeth Besse, daughter of Anthony Besse,* of
Sandwich. He resided at West Barnstable ; his house was
on r)ursley's Lane, (Proprietor's Records), on the farm
owned bj the late Lemuel Bursley, and died Dec. 2, 1744,
in the 94th year of his age.
When he was eighteen, Plymouth had been settled fifty
years, and though liberal bounties had been paid to English
and Indians for wolves' heads, yet these ravenous animals
abounded in the Colony. In 1654, the whole number killed
was nineteen — of which three were killed in Barnstable, and
in 1655, thirty-one — nine in Barnstable. In 1690, the
number killed was thirteen, and in 1691, nineteen. Jona-
than Bodfish said his grandfather could set a trap, as cun-
ningly as the oldest Indians, and that the duck or the goose
that ventured to come within gunshot of him, rarely escaped
being shot. Wolf Neck, so named because it was the resort
of these animals, was about half a mile from Joseph Bod-
fish's house, and there he set his traps. Once he narrowly
escaped losing his own life. Seeing a large wolf in his trap,
he incautiously approached with a rotten pine pole in his
hand. He struck — the pole broke in his hand, and the en-
raged beast sprang at him with the trap and broken chain
attached to his leg. Mr. Bodfish stepped suddenly one side,
and the wolf passed by him. Before the wolf could recover,
Mr. Bodfish was beyond his reach. This trap is preserved
in his family as an heir-loom.
♦Anthony Besse, born in 1609. Came over in the James, 1636, from
London, settled in Lynn and removed to Sandwicli in 1637, and was
many years a preacher to the Indians. He died in 1657, leaving wife
Jane, and children Nehemiah : David, born May 23, 1649, killed in the
Rehobeth battle March 26, 1676 ; Ann, who was the wife of Andrew
Hallet, Jr., of Yarmouth ; Mary ; and Elizabeth who married Joseph
Bodfish.
His widow married, second, George Barlow, and had by him John,
who has descendants, and Rebecca who married William Hunter. The
widow Barlow died in 1693. Her last marriage was an unhappy con-
nection. Barlow was appointed June 1, 1658, Marshal of Sandwich,
Barnstable and Yarmouth. His name adds no honor to the annals of
the Old Colony — a hard-hearted, intolerant, tyrannical man, abusing the
power entrusted to him, and seemingly taking delight in confiscating the
property of innocent men and women, or in dragging them to prison, to
the stocks, or the whipping post.
In his family he exercised the same tyrannical spirit, and it is not sur-
prising that the aid of the magistrate was frequently called into requi-
sition to settle the difficulties that arose. The reader of the Colony rec-
ords may think the Besses were not the most amiable of women — per-
haps they were not; but in these family quarrels Barlow was in fault,
and deserving of the infamy yhich will forever attach to his name.
70 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Some years after a wolf was followed by hunters from
Wareham to Barnstable, and they wished Mr. Bodfish to
join them, but he declined. Having studied the habits of
the animal, he felt certain it would return on the same track.
Taking his gun he went into the woods, concealed himself
within gunshot on the leeward side of the track, and waited
for the return of the wolf. He' was not disappointed, the
wolf at last appeared and was shot. He returned to his
house, and soon after the ^^'areham hunters came in and re-
ported that they had followed the wolf to the lower part of
Yarmouth, and the dogs had there lost, the track, and they
gave up the pursuit. They felt a little chagrined when the
dead body of the wolf was shown to them.
All his sons, excepting Benjamin, were good gunners.
Wolf hunting, however, was not a sport in which they en-
gaged. It is said that the last woH" killed in Barnstable was
shot by' Joseph Bodfish ; but this story requires confirma-
tion.
Joseph Bodfish* joined the Church in Barnstable, Feb.
12, 1689, N. S., and "his wife Elizabeth on the Itith July
following. His seven children, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Nathan,
Robert, Elizabeth and Melatiah, were baptized March 26,
1699, and his daughter Sarah, April 6, 1700.
Children born in Barnstable.
\ <■
I. John, born Dec. 2, 1675. Removed to Sandwiah,r
where he. has descendants. He married Sarah 'N-j^r'
May 24',' 17Q.4, and had Mary,March_9, 1705-6 ;'John,
Feb. 5 • 1708,'9 ; Hannahv Sept. 23, 1711 ; Joantia,
.. 0*1 22; 1714; Sarah, March 21,1717; Elizabeth',
. ;/, March:.30, 1720.; Joseph, Sept. 20,-1725.
n.' Joseph, born Oct. 1677, married Oct. 11, 1712,
. „,■ Thankful.-Blnsh^ daughter of Joseph. He was not
-': liykg in I'735. .; ■ •
HI;- MarY, born March 1, 1679-80, married Josiah Swift,
.!;-::^ of.S.;. Apiifis, 1706.. .:
IV; "\ Hannah, born May, 1681, married Richard Thomas.
He had baptized Dec. 4, 1715, Peleg, Ebenezer and
Ann. The children of Richard and Hannah recorded,
♦Erroneously printed "Bradford'' in the Genealogical Register for
1856, page 350. Elizabeth, his wife, was baptized on the day she was ad-
mitted to the Church— a fact perhaps not without significance in the
history of the Besses.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 71
are Annt;, born June 15, 1715, aud Joseph, born
Aug. 24, 1721. His son Ebenezer and grandson
Nathan, had families resident iu Barnstable. Joseph
Boddsh, Sen., calls Ebenezer Thomas his grandson.
V. Benjamin, born July 20, l(iS3, married Nov. lU, 1709,
Lydia Crocker, daughter of Jonathan, He died in
1760, i^ged 77. He was an active man, and may be
called the founder of the Bodtish family of recent
times. He bought for £100, by a deed from bis
father-in-law, Jonathan Crocker, dated Oct. 2(1, 171o,
one-half of the twenty-acre lot and meadow which
the latter bought of his father, John Crocker, includ-
ing the dwelling-house then standing thereon. This
tract of land is situated on the east of Scorton Hill,
and is bounded southerly by the County road. Jt
was a part of the great lot of Abraham Blush, con-
taining fifty acres, and sold by him Feb. 10, 1()()8,
to John Crocker, Sen., and by him given in his will
to children of his brother, Dea. \V''illiam Crocker, of
whom the John Crocker, first named, was one. The
house above mentioned, a high, single house, with a
leantoo, \Yas occupied by Benjamin Bod fish and his
son Jonathan till 1809, when it was taken down, and
the present Bodfish house built on the same spot.
VI. Nathan, born Dec. 27, 1685. He married Abigail
Bursley, daughter of John. She died March '61,
1739, in the 49th year of her age, and is called on
her grave-stones at West Barnstable, the wife of
Nathaniel. I find no record of his family, and tradi-
tion says he had no children. A Nathan Bodfish
married Patience Hathaway, and had Abigail, July
10, 1756, and Patience, Dec. 10, 1761. But this
man was perhaps a son of Robert, by his first wife.
Vn. Ebenezer, born March 10, 1687-8, removed to \A'ood-
bridge, N. J., where he died unmarried in 1739, and
bequeathed his estate by will to his brother Benjamin,
who was executor, and to his sisters Hannah Thomas
and Mary Swift.
\^in. Elizabeth, born Aug. 27, 1690, married and had a
family — not living in 1735.
IX. Rebecca, born Feb. 22, 1692-3, married Benjamin
Fuller, March 25, 1714. She died March 10, 1727-8,
leaving a family.
72 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
X. Melatiah, bora April 17, 1669, married Samuel Ffil-
ler, June 20, 1725-6. ""^
XI. Robert, born Oct. 10, 1698. He was published in
1729, to Jemima Nye of Sandwich. He afterwards
married Dec. 10, 1739, Elizabeth Hadaway, and had
Elizabeth, Sept. 11, 1741, and Ebenezer, Feb. 15,
1743-4.
XH. Sarah, born Feb. 20, 1700, married March 8, 1726-7,
Joseph Smith, Jr., his second wife, by whom she had
Sarah, born Jan'y 22, 1727-8.
Joseph Bodtish, son of Joseph, born Oct. 1677, mar-
ried 11th Oct. 1712,. Thankful, daughter of Joseph Blush of
West Barnstable.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Elizabeth, 6th Sept., 1713, married Eben Goodsp^ed,
3d, Sept. 29, 1736.
II. Hannah, 18th July, 1716, married Samuel Blossom,
Oct. 28, 1744.
III. Mary, 17th June, 1719, married Joseph Nye of Sand-
wich, Dec. 10, 1741.
IV. Joseph, 8th March, 1722, married Mehetabel Good-
speed, 1749. He resided at West Barnstable, and
had Mary, Hannah, Thankful, Lydia and Euth, twins,
Thankful again, Elizabeth and Joseph.
V. Thankful, 6th June, 1724, married Peter Conant,
May 4, 1741.
Benjamin Bodfish, son of Joseph, born 20th July, 1683,
married Lydia Crocker, 10th Nov. 1709.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Sylvanus, 2d Sept., 1710, married Mary Smith, Dec.
20, 1738.
II. Hannah, 12th Feb., 1712, married Caleb Nye of
Sandwich.
III. Thankful, 19th Feb., 1714, married Joseph Shelly of
Ray n ham.
IV. Solomon, 20th March, 1716, married Hannah Burs-
ley, Jr.
V. Joseph, 16th April, 1718, married and had a family.
VI. Benjamin, 18th March, 1720.
VII. Lydia, baptized 9th Juno, 1723.
VIII. Rachel, baptized Jan'ry, 1725-6.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 73
IX. Jonathan, born 10th Aug., 1727, married Desire
Howland, May 3, 1753. He died Jan'y 1818, aged
91, and his wife April 1813, aged 81. The farm ot
Mr. Jonathan Bodfish and his sons, at the time of his
death, consisted of six hundred acres of tillage, mead-
ow and woodland. They had all their property in
common, and at the end of each year invested their
surplus earnings in real estate. They were farmers,
raising large crops — often 400 bushels of Indian corn
in a season — and of other agricultural products, a
proportional amount. They usually kept 50 head of
cattle and 120 sheep. Benjamin was a ca,rpenter and
mason, and a very skillful workman. Isaac lived
thirteen years with Edward Wing, receiving from
$10 to $13 per month as wages. It is said of him,
that during all this time, his idle expenses amounted
to only 20 cents. The earnings of both were put
into the common stock. For more than seventy
years the property of Jonathan Bodfish was owned in
common, and during the whole time nothing occurred
to disturb the harmony and good feeling which sub-
sisted between the different members of the family.
They were hai'd- working, prudent and industrious ;
and in all their dealings were honest and honorable.
Jonathan, the father, was treasurer, and all deeds,
excepting enough to make his sons voters and qualify
them for holding civil offices, were taken in his name.
Jonathan Bodfish, the father of this remarkable fam-
ily, was a venerable old man — the patriarch of his
family. In person he was nearly six feet tall, large
and well proportioned, weighing ordinarily 230
pounds. His sons, excepting Josiah, were over six
feet, large boned, spare men, and in personal appear-
ance, would hardly be recognized as belonging to the
same family with Jonathan.
The children of Jonathan Bodfish born in Barnstable
were
I. Sylvanus, born Nov. 15, 1754; died in 1801, aged
47. He did not marry, and his estate was a part of
the common stock.
II. Benjamin, born April 14, 1756, died Jan'y 14, 1827,
aged 70. He was a carpenter, mason and farmer ;
did not marry, and his estate was also a part of the
74 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
common stock.
III. John, born March 16, 1761, married Mary, daughter
of Joseph Smith, and had a family . He was for
many years one of the selectmen of Barnstable. He
died Aug. 1847, aged 86, and his wife in 1849.
IV. Isaac, born July 22, 1763, married Elizabeth Bod-
fish, and had a family. He died Aug. 30, 1837,
aged 74.
V. Josiah, born Nov. 8, 1765; died Oct. 8, 1845, aged
80. He did not marry.
VI. Deborah, born June 11, 1768, married Benjamin
Goodspeed.
VII. Simeon, born Feb. 10, 1771 ; died young.
VIII. Alice, born about 1773 ; did not marry, and died
April 21, 1854, aged 81.
Some members of the Bodfish family removed to New
York, New Jersey and other places, and their connection
with the Barnstable stock can be easily traced.
BLOSSOM.
Deacon Thomas Blossom, one of the Pilgrims, and the
ancestor of the Blossom family of Barnstal)le, came from
Leyden to Plymouth, England ; hut being on board the
Speedwell, did not obtain a [)assage in the Mayflower from
England in 1620. He returned to Leyden to encourage the
emigration of the residue of Mr. liobinson's Church. He
came over in 1629, with Mr. Higginson and others, who
were bound to Salem. Judge Mitchell says he was first
deacon of the Church in Plymouth, and his letter to Gov.
Bradford gives evidence that he was a well educated and a
pious man. He died in Plymouth in the year 1632.* Of
bis family no record has been preserved. He had a son in
1620, who went to England with him and returned to Ley-
den ; but was not living Dec. 1625. At the latter date he
had two other children, but their names are not recorded.
Circumstantial evidence proves, beyond a reasonable doubt,
that he had two sons who survived him ; Thomas, who was
sixteen or over in 1643, and Peter who was younger.
Anna, the widow of Dea. Thomas Blossom, married
Henry Rowley, Oct. 17, 1633. They were members of
Mr. Lothrop's Church at its organization, Jan'ry 8, 1634-5,
and removed with him to Barnstable in 1639. Thomas and
Peter came to Barnstable with their mother, and were prob-
ably members of the family of their father-in-law. Thomas
*The date of the death of Deacon Blossom is uncertain. Gov. Brad-
ford, who was his contemporary, says he died of tiie malignant fever
which pervaded in the summer of 1633. The accurate Prince copies
Gov. Bradford's statementj and the caro-tul Mr. Savage refers to Prince
as his authority. Judge Mitchel says "about 1633." Notwitlistanding
this array of authorities it can perhaps be demonstrated that Dea. Blos-
som died in 1632. In the tax lists for the town of Plymouth, dated Jan'y
12, 1633, N. S., (1632 O. S.), Dea. Thomas Blossom is not taxed ; but the
Wid. Blossom is. The record now existing was made in March 1632-3,
and proves conclusively that Dea. Blossom was dead when that record
was made.
76 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
was a landholder in 1647, and he and his brother Peter had
a lot granted to them in partnership at Cotuit. Thomas
does not appear to have been a householder. He resided in
the easterly part of the town, and after his marriage, proba-
bly at the house of Thomas Lothrop, who was father-in-law
to his wife. He was a mariner, and at the time of his death,
April 22, 1650, was on a fishing voyage.
Peter removed with his fathei'-in-law to West Barnsta-
ble about the year 1650. His farm, containing forty acres
of upland, was on the east of the Bursley farm, and separa-
ted from it by Boat Cove and the stream of fresh water emp-
tying into it. On the northeast it was bounded by Thomas
Sharv's marsh and the land of Henry Rowley, and on the
southeast by the farm of Mr. Thomas Dexter, Sen'r. He
owned twelve acres of meadow. A part of his land is now
owned by his descendants.
Children of Deacon Thomas Blossom born in Leyden.
I. A son, who died before Dec. 1625.
II. Thomas, born about the year 1620, married June 18,
1645, by Major John Freeman, to Sarah Ewer, at the
house of Thomas Lothrop in Barnstable. She was a
daughter of Thomas Ewer, deceased, of Charlestown,
and was then residing with her mother. He and another
Barnstable man, Samuel Hallet, were drowned at Nau-
set, April 22, 1650. He left one child, a daughter
named "Sara," and had, perhaps, a posthumous son
named Peter.
JH. Peter, born after the year 1627, married Sarah Bodfish,
June 21, 1663. He resided at West Barnstable, was a
farmer, and died about 1700, intestate. His estate was
settled Oct. 5, 1706, by mutual agreement between his
widow Sarah and sons Thomas, Joseph and Jabez, and
daughters Thankful Fuller and Mercy Howland. His
children born in Barnstable were :
I. Mercy, born 9th April, 1664; died in 1670.
II. Thomas, born 20th Dec, 1667, married Dec. 1695,
Fear Robinson. He resided at West Barnstable.
III. Sarah, born 1669; died 1671.
IV. Joseph, born 10th Dec. 1673, married Marv Pinchon,
17th June, 1696.
V. Thankful, born 1675, married Joseph Fuller, 1700.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 77
VI. Mary, born Aug. 1678, married Shubael Rowland,
Dec. 13, 1700.
VII. Jabez, born 16th Feb.. 1680, married Mary Good-
speed, 9th Sept. 1710.
Thomas Blossom, son of Peter, married Dec. 1695,
Fear, daughter of John Robinson of Falmouth, and a great-
grand-daughter of Rev. John Robinson of Leyden. His
children born in Barnstable were :
I. Peter, born 28th Aug. 1698, married Hannah Isum,
June 9, 1720. According to the town record he had
an only son, Seth, born 15th March, 1721-2. Seth
married Jan'ry 8, 1746-7, Sarah Churchill of Sand-
wich, and second Abigail Crocker of Barnstable, Jan'ry
10, 1754. Children— Churchill, 15th Oct. 1749 ; David,
12th Jan'ry, 1755; Peter, 4th Dec. 1756; Abigail,
10th May, 1760 ; Seth, 4th Dec. 1763 ; Hannah, 15th
Aug. 1766; Levi, 15th April, 1772, who removed to
Bridge water.
II. John, born 17th' April, 1699, married April 6, 1726,
Thankful Burgess of Yarmouth, and had two children
born in Yarmouth. Fear, Feb. 3d, 1730-1, and Thank-
ful, March 5th, 1732-3.
III. Sarah, born 16th Dec. 1703; died young.
IV. Elizabeth, born Oct. 1705, married July 1, 1725, Israel
Butler.
V. Sarah, 30th July, 1709, married James Case of Leba-
non, Sept. 23, 1736.
Joseph Blossom, son of Peter, married 17th June, 1696,
Mary Pinchon. She died April 6, 1706, and he married
second, Mary .
Children born in Barnstable.
I. A child, born 14th March, 1696-7 ; died March, 1696-7.
II. A son, born May, 1702 ; died May, 1702.
III. Joseph, born 14th March, 1703-4, married Temperance
Fuller, March 30, 1727. Children born in Barnstable :
Lydia, 19th March, 1729, married Matthias Fuller,
1765; James, born 9th Feb. 1731, married Jan'ry 19,
1758, Bethia Smith ; Sarah, 14th Oct. 1734, and Mary,
14th Sept. 1736.
IV. A son. May 1705 ; died June, 1705.
V. Mary, 11th Dec. 1709, married Joseph Bates of Mid-
dleborough. 1743.
78 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
VI. Thankful, 25th March, 1711 ; married Ebeu'r Thomas,
Dec. 8, 1736.
Jabez Blossom, son of Peter, married 9th of Sept. 1710,
Mercy Goodspeed.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Sylvanus, born 20th Jan'ry, 1713, married Charity Snell,
1738, and settled in South Bridgewater. His grandson
Alden went to Turner, Maine, where he was a general
and high-sheriff.
Sylvanus is the only child of Jabez recorded ; but there
was a Jabez Blossom, Jr., who married May 17, 1739,
Hannah Backhouse of Sandwich ; also, a Ruth, who married
June 8, 1738, Sylvanus Barrows.
In addition to the above, there was a Peter Blossom,
born as early as 1680, who was entitled to a share in the
division of lands in 1703. If he was a son of Peter, son of
Dea. Thomas, it is difficult to account for the omission of
his name on the town and probate records. Perhaps he was
a son of Thomas, Jr. None of the Blossoms, excepting the
deacon, appear to have been church members, consequently
their children's names do not appear on the church records.
There was a Samuel Blossom of Barnstable, who mar-
ried Hannah Bodfish, Oct. 28, 1744, and had Thankful, 5th
Sept. 1745 ; Joseph, 28th Oct. 1747 ; Samuel and Hannah,
twins, 24th Jan'ry, 1752, and Mehitable, 23d June, 1753.
The mother of this family was a church member.
There was also a Benjamin Blossom of Sandwich, pub-
lished Dec. 22d, 1750, to Elizabeth Linnell, and married Oct.
31,1751, Bathsheba Percival, and had one son born in Barn-
stable, Benjamin, 18th Aug. 1753.
James Blossom, son of Joseph, married Jan'ry 19th,
1758, Bethia Smith, and had children born in Barnstable :
James, Feb. 3, 1760 ; Temperance. Oct. 1761; Matthias,
Sept. 12, 1765; Lucretia, Oct. 8, 1768, and Asenath, Aug.
30, 1770.
There was also a Thomas Blossom of Yarmouth, who
married Thankful Paddock, 1749, and had five children
born in Yarmouth, namely : Enos, Aug. 18, 1750 ; Thomas,
March 11, 1753; Thankful, Jan'y 6, 1756; Sarah, July
13th, 1758, and Ezra, May 10, 1761.
Benjamin Blossom, of Sandwich, by his wife Elizabeth,
had Sarah. Oct. 23. 1752: Mary, Nov. 27. 1757 ; Meribah,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 79
Jan'y 27, 1760.
Mehitable, wife of Joseph Blossom, of Cushnet, died
Mai-ch 16, 1771, aged 80 years, 6 mos., and 10 days.
Benjamin, of Acushnet, died Oct. 25th, 1797, aged 76,
who had by his wife Rebecca, Levi, who died May 8th,
1785, aged 8 1-2 months.
Note. — Some of the Blossoms lived in Sandwich, a fact that I was not
aware of when I commenced writing this article. A consultation of the
records of that town, will, I presume, enable those interested to flU up
the gaps in this genealogy.
THOMAS BOURMAN.
This name is written on the records Bourmaii, Burman
and Boreman. Some of his descendants write it Bowman,
others Bowerman. Thomas Boardman's name is written
Boardman and Boreman. In some cases it is difficult to
decide which man is intended. Thomas Boreman was taxed
in Plymouth in 1633, and in the following year contracted
to repair the fort on the hill which was a wooden structure,
and Thomas Boardman being a carpenter, I infer that he
was the man intended. A Thomas Boreman was a freeman
of Massachusetts, March 4, 1634, and a representative from
Ipswich, 1636. It has been supposed that he removed to
Barnstable, but I think it very doubtful. Thomas Bourman
of Barnstable could not write, and though one of the first
settlers, he was not admitted to be a townsman for some
reason ; perhaps he favored the Quakers. It is not proba-
ble that the inhabitants of Ipswich would have selected such
a man for their representative. Again, Bourman was in
aftertimes a common name in that town, and there is no evi-
dence whatever that Thomas of Ipswich removed.
Thomas Bourman was of Barnstable in 1643. He re-
sided at West Barnstable, on a farm on the South side of
the cove of meadow, at the head of Bridge Creek. It is
thus described on the town records :
1. Twenty-five acres of upland, be it more or less,
butting northerly upon ye marsh, easterly upon a brook,
and westerlj' upon a brook, and so running eighty rods
southerly into ye woods.
2. Sixteen acres of marsh, more or less, bounded
westerly partly by John Jenkins, and partly by a ditch cast
up between Abraham Blush and him ; northerly, partly by
ye highway, and partly bj' Gdd. Blush, easterly, partly by
ye great swamp and partly by Gdd. Blush's, his marsh.
3. Five acres of upland, more or less, butting north-
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 81
erly upon ye marsh, southerly upon a foot-path, easterly
upon a flashy swamp, westerly upon his own land.
The above described land and meadow with his dwelling
house thereon, he sold 28th Oct. 1662, to Robert Parker
for £78. Bourman signed this deed with his mark; his
will is signed in the same manner ; but the latter would not
be evidence that the testator was never able to write.
He was a surveyor of highways in 1648, and a grand
juror in 1650, and was a proprietor of the lands in Sucka-
nesset, now Falmouth. He died in 1663, and is called of
Barnstable at the time of his death.
Children born in JBarnstable.
He married 10th of March, 1644-5. Hannah, daughter
of Anthony Annable, and his children born in Barnstable
were
I. Hannah, May 1646.
II. Thomas, Sept. 1648, married Mary Harper, April 9,
1678.
HI. Samuel, July, 1651, slain at Rehobeth, March 26,
1676.
IV. Desire, ^lay 1654.
V. Mary, March 1656.
VI. Mehitablc, Sept. 1658.
VII. Tristram, Aug. 1661.
This family removed to Falmouth. They eai'ly joined
the Friends. Thomas, 22d April, 1690, bought of Jonathan
Hatch, Senior, and Robert Harper, agents of the inhabitants
of Suckanesset, one hundred acres of land formerly John
Robinson's, described as situate on the easterly side of the
"Five Mile River," bounded from the head of the river on a
straight line to the pond, northerly by the pond and south-
erly by the river. One acre to be on the south easterly side
of the road that leads from the river to Sandwich.
Samuel Bourman was a soldier in King Philip's war
from Barnstable, and was slain at Rehobeth March 26, 1676.
In the same battle Lieut. Samuel Fuller, John Lewis, Elea-
zer Clapp, Samuel Linnet and Samuel Childs of Barnstable
were also killed.
Thomas Bourman was town clerk of Falmouth 1702,
1704 and 1705. March 26, 1691, Thomas Bourman and
82 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
William Wyatt, a committee to laj^ out lands at Woods
Hole.
The following account of the family after the removal
to Falmouth, collected by Mr. Neweir Hoxie of Sandwich,
from ancient papers, is the best I have been able to obtain.
The illumination of dates would made it more intelligible :
Thomas Bourman, though belonging to the Society of
Friends, was taxed for the support of the ministrj- in the
town of Falmouth. All non-conformists were then required
to pay a double tax, one to their own society and one to the
settled minister of the town. Many resisted this law as
tyrannical and oppressive, and of this number was Thomas
Bourman. In the winter of 1705-6, he was committed to
Barnstable Jail for non-payment of a ministerial tax. On
the 4th of the 11th mo., 1705-6, the Friends monthly meet-
ing, held at the house of William Allen in Sandwich, ordered
"A bed and bedding to be sent to Thomas Bourman, he be-
ing in prison for the priest's rate." The following distraints
was subsequently made of his property to pay his taxes to
Rev. Joseph Metcalf, of Falmouth, one whose ministry
neither himself nor his family attended :
19th, 3d mo. 1709—2 cows, worth £5, for £3, 12s. U.
tax.
13th, 3d mo. — 1 cow and calf, worth £2, 2s. tax.
22d, 3d mo. — 1 cow worth £3, 10s. for £1, 13s. tax.
24th, 1st mo. 1710—1 cow worth £2, 14s. for £1, 17s.
tax.
17th, 1st mo. 1715—1 cow worth £3, 10s. for £l, 3s.
Id. tax.
9th, 1715—1 fat swine worth £3, 00, for £1 tax.
21st, nth mo. 1716—2 calves worth £2, 10s. for £1,
25. M.
lOtb, 3d mo. 1728—5 sheep worth £2, 10s. for £0,
16s. tax.
30th, 3d mo. 1728—12 lbs. wool worth £1, 10s. for
£0, 16s. \0d.
As these distraints were made by different constables,
the presumption is that the three first named were for taxes
of former years.
His son, Thomas Bowman, also, refused to pay his
ministerial tax, and in 1727 the constable seized three bush-
els of Malt, worth 16s. 6ri. to pay the same. On the 2d
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 83
oftheSdmo. 1728; the constable seized one Linen Wheel
and one Bason, worth 20 shillings.
These exactions were very moderate in comparison- with
those made by Constable Barlow half a century earlier.
Thomas Bourman, born in Barnstable, Sept. 1648, mar-
ried Mary Harper, April 9, 1678. Their children were
Samuel ; Thomas, who married Jane Harby ; Stephen, who
did not marry ; Benjamin, who married Hannah ; Han-
nah, who married Nathan Barlow 1719, and Wait, who
married Benjamin Allen, 1720.
Thomas Bourman, son of the second Thomas, resided
at West Falmouth on the estate now owned by Capt. Nathan-
iel Eldred. He married Jane Harby, and had children :
Ichabod ; Judah, who married Mary Dillingham 1758 ; Da-
vid, married Kuth Dillingham 1751, and Hannah Wing 1770 ;
Silas, married second, Lydia Gilford ; Joseph, married Rest
Swift, Sept. 17, 1766; Sarah, married Melatiah Gifford
1743; Jane, married Joseph Bowman; Elizabeth; Peace,
who did not marry, and Deborah.
Benjamin Bourman. son of Thomas 2d, married Han-
nah . He resided at Teeticket, Falmouth, was a man of
enterprise and wealth, and died in the year 1743, leaving
sons Daniel, Samuel and Stephen, and a daughter "Rest,'"
all of whom belonged to the Friends' Meeting. He wrote
his name Bowerman, as many of the family now do. In the
inventory of his estate, one-half of the sloop Falmouth and
one-eighth of the sloop Woods Hole, are appraised. His
son Stephen, married 1756, Hannah, daughter of Caleb and
Reliance Allen ; Samuel married three wives ; first, 1743,
Rose Landers; second, 1746, Jemimah Wing; third, Oct.
10, 1785, Grace Hoxie. Daniel married Joanna, daughter
of Simeon Hathaway, and had Barnabas, grandfather of the
present Barnabas, and a daughter "Rest," who rested in
single life.
Beside those mentioned in the will of Benjamin Bour-
man, Mr. Hoxie says he had a son Enos, who married in
1764, Elizabeth, daughter of Recompence and Lydia Land-
ei's ; Joseph, who died young; Wait, who married 1741,
Benjamin Swift, and a son Benjamin, who married in 1755,
Elizabeth, daughter of William and Mary Gifford. This
Benjamin lived at Teeticket. His children, Elihu, married
Sept. 23, 1779, Anny Allen; Harper, who married, first.
84 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Elizabeth Shepherd, and second, Meribah Jones ; Hannah,
who married Eben Allen ; Zacheus, married Sept. 26, 1810,
Elizabeth Wing; Benjamin, married 1796, Phebe Shepherd ;
Elizabeth; Anna, married Abel Hoxie ; Samuel, and Eest
who married Francis Allen. Several of this family lived to
a great age.
BUMPAS.
Edward Bompasse came over in the Fortune, and arrived
at Plymoutii Nov. 10, 1621. The name is probably the
French Bon pas — a similar name to the English Goodspeed.
At the division of the land in 1623, and of the cattle in 1627,
he was unmarried. He sold land in Plymouth in 1628, and
removed to Duxbury and there bought land of William Pal-
mer, on which he built a house and -'palisado," which he
sold to John Washburn in 1634. In 1640 he was of Marsh-
field, and was living at Duck Hill in that town in 1684.
It appears that he married about the time he removed
to Duxbury, and according to the Marshfield records his
wife was named Hannah. The record says "Hannah, widow
of old Edward Bumpas, died 12th Feb. 1693," and that
Edward Bumpas died nine days before. Mr. Savage sup-
poses that the latter record refers to Edward Bumpas, Jr.
This Barnstable family descend from Thomas, prob-
ably the youngest son ot Edward, the pilgrim. He was not
a proprietor, and I do not find that he was admitted an in-
habitant of Barnstable. He and his son Thomas claimed to
be proprietors, but the lands laid out to them in 1716, were
in consideration of fifteen shares purchased by them of Lieut.
John Howland, and in settlement of "their whole right or
pretence to any claim in the division of the common land in
Barnstable." Thomas Bumpas' house was on "Lovell's
Way," in Cokachoiset, now Osterville.
Samuel Bumpas' house was at Skonkonet, now called
Bump's river, and on the road south of Thompson's
bridge. His house stood near the cedar swamp. His house
lot and other lands in the vicinity of Thompson's bridge,
laid out to him in 1716, was for one share he bought of his
brother-in-law Samuel Parker, and one of John Howland.
86 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
The family in Barnstable is extinct, but the descendants
of Edward in other parts of the country are very numerous.
No record has been preserved of the family of the first
Edward. His children as well as can now be ascertained
were :
I. Faith, born 1631.
II. Sarah, married March, 1659, Thomas Durham.
HI. John, born 1636, probably the oldest son, had at
Middleborough, Mary, born 1671 ; John, 1673,
Samuel, 1676; James, 1678; at Rochester, Sarah,
16th Sept. 1685; Edward, 16th Sept. 1688, and
Jeremiah, 24th Aug. 1692. I'he latter married
Nov. 15, 1712, Jane Lovell of Barnstable. The fam-
ily was afterwards in Wareham.
IV. Edward, born 1638. Mr. Savage supposes he died
in Marshfield in 1693.
V. Joseph, born 1639, first of Plymouth, and afterwards
of Middleborough. Mr. Winsor in his history of
Duxbury doubts whether Joseph was a son of Ed-
ward, though he puts his name among his children.
A deed of land recently found settles this question.
He was a son of Edward, and had Lydia, born 2d
Aug. 1669 ; Wybra, 15th May, 1672 ; Joseph, 25th
Aug. 1674 ; Rebecca, 17th Dec. 1677 ; James, 25th
Dec. 1679; Penelope, 2lst Dec. 1681; Mary, 12th
Aug. 1684, and Mehitable, 21st Jan'y, 1692.
VI. Jacob, born 1644. Mr. Deane says he was of Scit-
uate in 1676, where he married in 1677, Elizabeth,
widow of William Blackmore, and had Benjamin,
1678, and Jacob, 1680. Benjamin had nine children,
and has numerous descendants.
VII. Hannah, born 1646.
VIII. Philip. Winsor says Philip was the son of Edward,
and he was living in 1677 ; but gives no additional
information.
IX. Thomas, born about the year 1660, married Nov.
1679, Phebe, eldest daughter of John Lovell of
Barnstable. His children born in Barnstable were :
Ghildren born in Barnstable.
I. Hannah, born 28th July, 1680, married Samuel Par-
ker, Dec. 12, 1695. The bride was 15, and the
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 87
bridegroom 35.
II. Jean, born Dec. 1681.
III. Mary, born April, 1683.
IV. Samuel, born Janr'y 1685, married Joanna Warren,
Aug. 1, 1717, and had Sarah, April 5, 1718, married
Samuel Lothrop, July 17, 1740; Joanna, May 15,
1719, married Samuel Hamblin, Jr., Nov. 16, 1749 ;
Jubez, June 25, 1721; Thomas, March 20, 1722-3;
John, May 17, 1725 ; Warren, June 28, 1727 ; Bethia,
Aug. 23, 1729, married Seth Phinney, Oct. 26, 1748 ;
Mary, Jan'y 1, 1731-2, and Phebe, April 21, 1734.
V. Thomas, born May, 1687.
VI. Sarah, born Jan'ry 1688.
VII. Elizabeth, born Jan'y 1690.
VIII. Abigail, born Oct. 1693.
IX. John, baptized June 21, 1696.
X. Benjamin, born 27th, March 1703.
Phebe, wife of Thomas Bumpas, became a member of
the Barnstable Church, May 24, 1696, and on the 21st of
June following, his children Samuel, Thomas, John, Mary,
Sarah, Abigail and Elizabeth were baptized. Hannah, his
eldest child, was then married, and respecting Jane under
the date of July 5, 1696, is the following entry: "Jane of
Phebe, wife of Thomas Bump, ye girl being about 14 or 15
years old, was examined, and being one of ye family and
looked upon in her minority, was baptized." The baptism
of Benjamin does not appear on the church records. Phebe
Bumpas of Barnstable, married Nov. 11, 1724, John Fish.
She was probably daughter of Thomas, Sen'r, The Thank-
ful Bumbas, who married Dec. 12, 1744, Jonathan Hamblin,
was perhaps another daughter. There was also a Samuel
Bumpus, Jr., of Barnstable, who married in 1733, Sarah
Rogers.of Plymouth. She died April 10, 1736, leaving a
son Levi, born March 17, 1734-5.
BETTS.
WILLIAM BETTS,
Aged twenty years, came over in the Thomas and John,
Richard Lombard, master, from Gravesend, 6th Jan'y 1635.
He joined Mr. Lothrop's church Oct. 25, 1635, married
Alice, Goodman Ensign's maid in the Bay (Massachusetts),
Nov. 23, 1638, removed with the church to Barnstable in
1639. Mr. Savage says he was a tanner by trade, and that
he was afterwards of Dorchester. In the list of those who
were able to bear arms in 1643, his name is written Beetts.
Perhaps the name is Bills. There was a family of that name
early in Barnstable. The children of William Betts, born
in Barnstable, were :
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Hannah, bap'd Jan'y 26, 1639-40.
II. Samuel, bap'd Feb. 5, 1642-3.
III. Hope, a son, bap'd Mar. 16, 1644-5.
After the date of the birth of his son Hope, his name
disappears on the Barnstable records. His lands are not
recorded ; probably they were transferred to another with-
out a formal deed, as was the custom at the first settlement.
He, perhaps, settled in the westerly part of the plantation,
near John Crocker.
BLUSH.
ABRAHAM BLUSH.
This name is uniformly written on tlie Colony and early
Barnstable records Blush. Many of his descendants now
spell their name Blish, though the popular, pronunciation of
the name continues to he Blush.
He was an early settler at Duxbury. Nov. 1, 1637, he
bought of Richard Moore, for twenty-one pounds sterling,
(payable in money or beaver, ) a dwelling-house and twenty
acres of land at Eagle's Nest in Duxbury. On the 26th of
Nov. 1638, he sold the easterly half of the land to John
Willis for £8, lOs. sterling.
He was of Barnstable in 1641, and was probably one of
the first settlers ; was propounded to be admitted a freeman
June 1, 1641; again in 1651, and 1652. The date of his
admission is not given ; his name is on the list of freemen
in 1670. He was a grand-juror in 1642, 1658, and 1663 ;
surveyor of highways 1645, 1650 and 1652; constable,
1656, 1660 and 1667. He is styled a planter, and was a
large landholder, owning at West Barnstable eight acres of
land on the east side of Bridge Creek or Cuve, and seven-
teen acres of meadow adjoining. Fourteen acres of upland,
eight on the south, and six on the north side of the road and
bounded easterly by the Annable land, and three acres of
meadow adjoining. His great lot containing forty acres was
on the east of Scorton Hill, and bounded southerly by the
highway. This he sold Feb. 10, 1668, to John Crocker,
Sen'r, for £5, 10s.
In 1662, he owned another sti'ip of land on the east of
the Annable Farm, containing eight acres, extending from
the marsh across the highway to Annable's pond.
The above lands were his W^est Barnstable farm, on
which it appears that he resided in 1643, being one of the
90 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OE BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
earliest settlers in that part of the town. His old home-
stead on the west of the Annable land was owned by him
and his descendants about two centuries.
July 17, 1G58, he bought for £75, the Dolar Davis
farm, in the easterly part of the town containing fifty acres
of upland and ten of meadow. Twelve acres ol this land
was at Stony Cove, and was sold by him in 1680 to Nathan-
iel and Jeremiah Bacon ; twenty-two acres in the Old Com-
mon Field, and sixteen acres (his house lot), on the south
of the Mill Pond. His dwelling-house stood a short dis-
tance south-easterly from the present water-mill. The
causeway which forms the Mill Dam was called in early
times Blushe's Bridge, and the point of land at the western
extremity of the Old Common Field is now known as
Blushe's Point.
The first wife of Abraham Blush was named Anne,
perhaps Anne Pratt. She was buried in Barnstable, ac-
cording to the Town and Colony records, May 16, 1651 ;
but according to the Chui'cli records, which are more relia-
ble, on the 26th of May, 1653. His second wife was Han-
nah, daughter of John Williams of Scituate, and widow of
.John Barker of Marshfield. She was buried in Barnstable,
March 16, 1658, according to the Colony records ; but the
Barnstable record probably gives the ti'ue date, Feb. 16,
1657-8. He married for his third wife, January 4, 1658-9,
Alice, widow of John Derby of Yarmouth. He died Sept.
7, 1683 ; his age is not stated. His children born in Barn-
stable were
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Sarah, born 2d Dec. 1641, bap'd 5th Dec. 1641.
H. Joseph, born 1st April, 1648, bap'd 9th April, 1648;
married Hannah Hull, 15th Sept. 1674 ; died June 14,
"1730, aged 82 years.
HI. Abraham, born 16th Oct. 1654. In the will of his
uncle, Capt. John Williams of Scituate, he is called of
Boston in 1691. In 1698, Thomas Brattle of Boston,
conveyed to Abraham Blush and twenty others, land
called Brattle Close. He was one of the founders of
the church in Brattle street in 1698. Mr. Savage does
not find that he had a family.
Joseph Blush, son of Abraham, married Sept. 15, 1674,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 91
Hannah, daughter of Tristram Hull. He resided at West
Barnstable. He died June 14, 1730, aged 82, and his
widow died Nov. 15, 1733, aged 75 years. His will is da-
ted June 25, 1722, and Avas proved Aug. 30, 1731. He
names his wife Hannah, and sons Tristam sole executor,
Benjamin, Abraham and Joseph ^ and daughters Annah,
Thankful and Mary. He gives his cane to his son Joseph,
and remembers all his grand-children then four years of
age.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Joseph, born 13th Sept. 1675, married Hannah Child,
30th July, 1702.
H. John, born 17th Feb. 1676-7 ; died young.
HI. Annah, born Feb. 1678-9.
IV. Abraham, born 27th Feb. 1680-1, married Temper-
ance Fuller, Nov. Nov. 12, 1736.
V. Reuben, born 14th Aug. 1683, married two wives.
VI. Sarah, born Aug. 1685, died 3d Jan'y 1686.
VII. Sarah, born Sept. 1687, died 1705.
VIII. Thankful, born Sept. 1689, married Joseph Bodfish,
Oct. 11, 1712.
IX. John, born 1st Jan'y 1691 ; died Oct. 14, 1711.
X. Tristram, born April, 1694.
XI. Mary, born April 1696, married Samuel Jones 26th
June, 1718.
XII. Benjamin, born April, 1699.
Joseph Blush, Jr., son of Joseph, resided at West
Barnstable. He married 30th July, 1702, Hannah, daugh-
ter of Eichard Child. She died 11th Nov. 1732, aged 58
years, and he married in 1733 his second wife, Eem ember
Backus of Sandwich. He died March 4, 1754, aged 79
years.
Children bom in Barnstable.
I. Joseph, born 2d Feb. 1704, married Oct. 28, 1730,
Mercy Crocker, and had Joseph, born July 20, 1731,
who married Sarah Crocker, May 19, 1757. During
the Revolution he was an active and energetic Whig.
Hannah, born Oct. 28, 1732, married Zachariah Perry
ot Sandwich, Feb. 7, 1744-5 ; William, Dec. 22, 1733 ;
Samuel, bap'd March 16, 1734-5 ; Seth, bap'd March
92 GENEALOGfCAL NOTES OF BAENSTAELE FAMILIES.
25, 1739; Mercy, born Oct. 24, 1740; Benjamin,
bap'd July 18, 1742; Ebenezer, born April 1, 1744,
and Timothy, Feb. 16, 1745-6.
II. Abigail, born 29th Nov. 1705, married Seth Crocker.
III. Sarah, born 1st Oct. 1707, married Seth Hamblin, Oct,
9, 1735.
IV. Mehitable, 14th June, 1711, married Ben. Jenkins,
Oct. 29, 1730.
V. Abraham, born 29th Sept. 1712 ; died Feb. 8, 1723-4.
VI. Hannah, 14th June, 1715.
Al)raham Blush, son of Joseph, married Nov. 12, 1736,
Temperance Fuller. He was fifty-live and she was only
twenty at their marriage. Joseph Blush, Jr., had a son
Abraham born in 1712, who died in 1724, and as there was
no other Abraham in Barnstable, it is to be presumed that the
match was made notwithstanding the disparity in the ages
of the bride and bridegroom.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Abraham, 20th Oct. 1737.
II. Elijah, 5th March, 1738-9, married Sarah Stewart,
Jan'y 25, 1761.
III. Rebecca, 14th Nov. 1740.
IV. Benjamin, 9th May, 1743.
V. Elisha, 23d April, 1745 ; died 17th Nov. 1645.
VI. Elisha, 1st March, 1746-7.
VII. Martha, 14th July, 1749.
VIH. Temperance, 21st Nov. 1751.
IX. Timothy, 3d Aug. 1756, probably died young.
Reuben Blush, son of Joseph, is not named, if my ab-
stract is reliable, in his father's will, and though he mar-
ried twice and had a family, the births of his children are
not on the Barnstable records. By his first wife Elizabeth,
he had six children baptized Dec. 20, 1730, namely : John',
Silas, Reuben, Elizabeth, Hannah and Thankful.
He married for his second wife, Mary Thomas, Oct,
25, 1735. In his will dated July 3d, 1738, proved on the
20th Oct. following, he names his wife Mary, and sons John,
Reuben and Silas. His widow, who is styled Mrs., married
March 5, 1745, Lieut. John Annable.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 93
Tristram Blush, son of Joseph, married Oct. 17, 1717,
Anne Fuller, and had children born in Barnstable, namely :
I. Benjamin, June 16. 1718.
II. Anna, Nov. 19, 1719.
III. Sylvanus, Oct. 13, 1721.
IV. Thankful, bap'd Nov. 1725. A Thankful Blush mar-
ried Caleb P^rry of Sandwich, Oct. 1758.
John Blush, son of Reuben, married Nov. 15, 1739,
Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Goodspeed, Jr., and had John,
Nov. 14, 1745; Mary, Feb. 17, 1748, (who had Mary
Crocker by Enoch Crocker, Auaj. 20, 1765;) Stacy, March
26, 1751, and Eebecca, Oct. 14^ 1756.
Reuben Blush, son of Reuben, married May 11, 1747,
Ruth Childs, and had Reuben, 20th Oct. 1747 ; David, 11th
May, 1749; Thomas, 21st July, 1751, and Elizabeth, 19th
Oct. 1755.
Silas Blush, son of Reuben, married Nancy Tobey of
Falmouth in 1747, and had Rebecca bap'd Jan'y 25, 1748-9 ;
Abigail, June 2, 1751 ; Mercy, Sept. 30, 1752 ; Silas, Aug.
1, 1756; Elisha, Jan'y 15, 1759, and Mercy, April 18,
1762.
Silas of this family married Chloe, daughter of Nicholas
Cobb. His widow is now living at the advanced age of
ninety-six.
His brother Elisha was a very worthy man ; but he
made one sad mistake, he married for his first wife a woman
because she had lands and money.
ELISHA BLUSH AUNT "BECK" AND HER MUSEUM.
Elisha Blush married for his first wife June 2, 1790,
Rebecca Linnell — familiarly known as "Aunt Beck," — the
third wife and widow of Johif Linnell, deceased. The first
wife of the latter was Mercy Sturgis, his second, Ruth, a sis-
ter of Rebecca, and both daughters of James Linnell. By
Mercy and Ruth he had no issue, by Rebecca a daughter
Abigail. By the ecclesiastical law of England it was then
illegal for a man to marry his deceased wife's sister, and the
issue of such marriages was declared illegitimate. Under
this law the other heirs of John Linnell claimed his large es-
tate to the exclusion of his widow and daughter. Before
anv settlement was made, the daughter died, the widow
94 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
married, and the. law was changed. The matter was finally
settled by compromise, and Rebecca Blush came into posses-
sion of nearly all her first husband's estate.
Elisha Blush was a shoemaker by trade, a very honest
and worthy man, and an exemplary member of the Metho-
dist Church. At the time of his first marriage he was thirty-
one and his wife forty-six years of age. She died Nov. 7,
1830, aged 86 years, and six weeks and three days after he
married Eebecca Linnell, a grand niece of his first wife, a
young woman aged 29. Elisha Blush died May 1836, aged
77, and his widow is the present wife of the Rev. Scolly G.
Usher, now a practicing physician at the West.
When young I had often heard of Aunt Beck's Museum,
and there are very few in Barnstable who have not. In the
winter of 1825, I resided in her neighborhood, and made
several calls to examine her curiosities. Her house, yet re-
maining, is an old-fashioned, low double-house, facing due
South, with two front-rooms, a kitchen, bedroom and pan-
try on the lower floor. The east front-room, which was
her sitting-room, is about fourteen feet square. The west
room is smaller. Around the house and out-buildings every
thing was remarkably neat. The wood and fencing stuff
was carefully piled, the chips at the wood-pile were raked
up, and there Avas no straw or litter to be seen about the
barn or fences. It was an estate that the stranger would
notice for its neat and tidy appearance.
In my visits to her house the east front-room was the
only portion I was permitted to see, though I occasionally
caught a glimpse of the curiosities in the adjoining rooms
through the half-opened doors. I was accompanied in my
visits by a young lady who was a neighbor, and on excel-
lent terms with Aunt Beck. She charged me not to look
around the room when I entered, but keep my eye on the
lady of the house, or on the fire-place. To observe such
precautions was absolutely necessary, for the stranger who,
on entering, should stare around the room, would soon feel
the weight of Aunt Beck's ire, or her broom-stick. 1 fol-
lowed my instructions, and was invited to take one of the
two chairs in the room. It was a cool evening, and all be-
ing seated close to the fire, we were soon engaged in a
friendly chat, and I soon had an opportunity to examine the
curiosities. In the northeast corner of the room stood a
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 95
bedstead with a few rajrged, dirty bed-clothes spread thereon.
The space under the bed was occupied partly as a pantry.
Several pans of milk were set there for cream to rise, (for
Aunt Beck made her own butter) ; but when she made more
than she used in her family, she would complain of the dull-
ness of the market. In front of the bed and near the centre
of the room stood a common table about three feet square.
Respecting this table a neighbor, Captain Elisha Hall, as-
sured me that to his certain knowledge it had stood in the
same place twenty years, how much longer he could not say.
On this table, for very many successive years, she had laid
whatever she thought curious or worth preserving. When
an article was laid thereon it was rarely removed, for no one
would dare meddle with Aunt Beck's curiosities. Feathers
were her delight ; but many were perishable articles, and in
the process of time had rotted and changed into a black
mould, covering the table with a stratum of about an inch in
thickness.
In front of the larger table stood a smaller one near
the tire-place, from which the family partook of their meals.
This table was permanently located, and I was informed by
the neighbors that no perceptible change had been made in
the ORDER, or more properly disorderly, arrangements of
the furniture and curiosities for the ten years next preceding
my visit. The evening was cool, and though my hostess
was the owner of extensive tracts of woodland, covered with
a heavy growth, she could not afford herself a comfortable
tire. A few brands and two or three dead sticks, added
after we came in, cast a flickering light over the room ; but,
fortunately for our olfactories, did not inci'ease its tempera-
ture.
The floor, excepting narrow paths between the doors,
fire-place and bed, was entirely covered with broken crock-
ery, old pots, kettles, pails, tubs, &c., &c., and the walls
were completely festooned with old clothing, useless articles
of furniture, bunches of dried herbs, &c., &c., in fact every
article named in the humorous will of Father A-bby, except-
ing a "tub of soap." The other articles named in the same
stanza were conspicuous :
"A long cart rope,
A frying-pan and kettle.
An old sword blade, a garden spade,
A pi-uning-hook and sickle."
96 GENEALOGICAL, NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
But in justice to Aunt Beck, I should state that she did
for many long years contemplate making "a tub of soap."
For thirty years she saved all her beef-bones for that pur-
pose, depositing the same in her large kitchen fire-place and
in other places about the room. During the warm summer
of 1820, these bones became so offensive that Aunt Beck
reluctantly consented to have them removed, and Captain
Elisha Hall, who saw them carted away, says there was more
than an ox-cart load.
Of the other rooms in the house I cannot speak from
pei'sonal knowledge ; but the lady who went with me and
who is now living, informed me that in the west room there
was a bed, a shoemaker's bench, flour barrels, chests con-
taining valuable bedding, too good to use, and a nameless
variety of other articles scattered over the bed and chairs ;
from the walls were suspended a saddle and pillion, and
many other things preserved as rare curiosities. In time the
room became so completely filled that it was diflicult to en-
ter it. The kitchen, bedroom, pantry and chambers were
filled with vile trash and trumpery, covered with dirt and
litter.
This description may seem imaginary or improbable to
the stranger ; but there are hundreds now living in Barn-
stable who can testify that the picture is not drawn in too
strong colors. Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and
this maxim applies in all its force to Rebecca Blush. That
she was a monomaniac is true ; but that she was insane on
all subjects is not true. Early in life she was neat, industri-
ous and very economical, but her prudent habits soon degen-
erated into parsimony. Economy is a vii'tue to be inculcat-
ed, but when the love of money becomes the ruling passion,
and a man saves that he ma}^ hoard and accumulate, he
becomes a miser, and as such, is despised. The miser accu-
mulates money, or that which can be converted into money.
Aunt Beck saved not only money, but useless articles that
others threw away. These she would pick up in the fields,
and by the roadside, and store away in her house. During
the latter part of her life she seldom went from home.
During more than twenty years she thus gathered up useless
trash, and as she did not allow any thing (except the bones)
to be carried out for more than forty years, it requires no
great stretch of the imagination to form a correct picture of
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 97
the condition and appearance of the place, she called her
home.
Her estate, if she had allowed her husband to have
managed it, would have been much larger at her death. Her
wood she would not be allowed to be cut and sold, and the
proceeds invested. She lost by investing her money in
mortgages on old houses and worn-out lands, and loaning to
persons who never paid their notes. She also had a habit
of hiding parcels of coin among the rubbish in her house,
and sometimes she would forget not only where she had
placed the treasure, but how many such deposits she had
made. It is said that some of her visitors, who were not
over-much honest, often carried away these deposits, un-
known and unsuspected by her.
On one subject, saving, Rebecca Blush was not of
sound mind. She was, however, a woman naturally of strong
mind — no one could be captain over her. She knew more
or less of almost every family in town, and was always very
particular in her inquiries respecting the health of the fam-
ilies of her visitors. She delighted in repeating ancient bal-
lads and nursery tales. In her religious opinions she was
Orthodox; and she hated the Methodists, not because they
were innovators, but because the preachers called at her
house, and because her husband contributed something to
their suppoi-t.
Not a dollar of the money saved and accumulated by
her, during a long life of toil and self-denial, now remains.
In a few short years it took to itself wings and flew away.
Her curiosities, which she had spent so many years in col-
lecting and preserving, were ruthlessly destroyed before her
remains were deposited in the grave. She died on Sunday.
On the Thursday preceding, her attendants commenced re-
moving. She overheard them, and asked if it thundered.
They satisfied the dying woman with an evasive answer.
Before her burial, all her curiosities were either burnt, or
scattered to the four winds of heaven.
The old house soon lost all its charms, and its doors
ceased to attract visitors. Its interior was cleansed and
painted ; paper-hangings adorned the walls, and handsome
furniture the rooms. Forty-five days after her death there
was a wedding-party at the house. Mr. Blush endeavored
to correct the sad mistake which he made when a young
98 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
man, by taking in his old age a young woman for his second
wife, forty-three years j'^ounger than himself, and fifty-seven
years younger than his first wife.
During the closing period of his life, a term of nearly
six years, Elisha Blush enjoyed all those comforts and con-
veniences of life of which he' had been deprived for forty
years, and to which a man having a competent estate is enti-
tled. This great change in his mode of living did not, how-
ever, afibrd him unalloyed happiness. One remark which
he made at this period is worth preserving ; it shows the
effect which habits of forty years growth have on the human
mind. Some one congratulated him on the happy change
which had taken place. "Yes," said he, "I live more com-
fortably than I did," but he added with a sigh, "my present
wife is not so economical as my first."
Note. — I read the manuscript of this article to the only persons now
living whom I presumed would have any feeling in regard to its publi-
cation. They are relatives of Aunt Beck, and when young were frequent
visitors at her house. I altered whatever they said was not literally
true, excepting things of which I was myself an eye witness. They re-
quested me to say nothing of her eccentricities. I replied that Aunt
Beck and her museum, like Sarcho and Dappie, were born for each oth-
er, and if the account of the museum was omitted, Aunt Beck sunk into
insignificance.
BLACHFORD.
WILLIAM BLACHFORD.
According to tradition William Blachford, the ancestor
of this family, came from London. His wife, Elizabeth
Lewis, was a daughter of Benjamin Lewis, who had a house
at Crooked, now called Lampson's Pond. She was popu-
larly known, not by her true name, but as Liza Towerhill,
because the family of her husband is said to have resided in
that part of London. She was reputed to be a witch.
Some of the marvels which are related of her I have pub-
lished. It is unnecessary now to re-produce them, or other
equally improbable relations since collected. That Elizabeth
Blachford was a witch, and transformed herself into a black
cat at pleasure, and performed most wonderful feats, all her
neighbors three-fourths of a century ago believed, or at least
pretended to believe. Even at this day, there are persons
who firmly believe that Liza Tower Hill was a witch, and
did all the wonderful things that they have heard ancient
people relate.
She was a daughter of Benjamin Lewis by his second
wife, Hannah Hinckley. Her father was a grand-son of the
first George Lewis, and her mother was a grand-daughter
of the first Samuel, and own cousin to Gov. Thomas Hinck-
ley. Her family and connections were among the most respec-
table and infiuential in Barnstable. She was born Jan'y 17,
1711-12, married William Blachford, Nov. 12, 1728,
admitted to the East Church, in full communion, Jan'y 9,
1736-7, of which she was an exemplany member until her
death in July, 1790. She was honest, industrious, ener-
getic and shrewd in making a bargain. The records of Eev.
Mr. Green furnish evidence that she was an exemplary and
pio'.is woman, fifty -three years of her life — a period cover-
ing the whole time in which, according to popular belief.
100 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
she was in league with the Evil One.
Her husband was a very worthy man, admitted to the
church at his own house on the day preceding his death ;
died June 15, 1755, leaving a small estate and seven chil-
dren, four under seventeen, to be provided for by their
mother. She spun and wove for those who were able to
pay for her services, managed her small farm, working
thereon with her own hands,* kept several cows, and thus
was able to bring up her children respectably.
A question here arises which covers the whole ground
respecting the popular belief in witchcraft. It is difficult
perhaps satisfactorily to explain this phase in the popular
mind. Fifty years before the time of Liza Towerhill, the
intelligent and the ignorant alike believed in the existence
of witches. The Bible taught that there witches in olden
times ; and the laws of Old and New England recognized
witchcraft as an existing evil, the practice whereof was crim-
inal and punishable with death. Eespecting the meaning of
the words "being possessed with devils," and "witches"
in the Scriptures, our ancestors had vague and uncertain
notions. The imaginations of the ignorant and the super-
stitious, perhaps aided by the malice of the wicked, gave
form and substance to those vague notions, and they became
visible forms to their eyes, more frequently in that of a cat
than any other animal. That such transformations actually
occurred was believed by very many ; and not a few held that
the hanging of witches was a religious duty. We may re-
gret that such was the popular delusion, or we may laugh
at the simplicity of those who believed in such vageries ; yet
five generations have since passed, and time has not entirely
eradicated from the popular mind a belief in the existence of
apparitions and witches.
*A man now living informs me that when a small boy, he went with
his father to assist Liza in breaking np a piece of new ground. At that
time she must have been over seventy-iive years of age, yet she performed
the most laborious part of the operation — holding down the plough.
During the operation the plough was suddenly brought up against a
stump, and the concussion threw her over it. She suffered no incon-
venience by the accident, and continued to work till the job was com-
pleted. All admit that she was not a weak-minded woman, aud this
anecdote shows that she was also physically strong.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 101
Phenomena which Science now enables us to explain in
accordance with the laws which govern the Universe, were
inexplicable to them, and without iflaputing to them wrong
notions, or being influenced by a superstitious fear, we may
safely admit that their conclusions were honest. All dis-
eases which aflTected both the mind and the body, including
diseases of the nervous system, epilepsy, monomania, &c.,
were classed in ancient times under the general head of being
"possessed of an evil spirit." Without entering upon this
inquiry, it is sufficient to say that our fathers believed that
the devil had something to do with persons thus afflicted. I
am, however, satisfied that nineteen-twentieths of the witch
stories told, originated in dream-land. All that are told of
Liza Towerhill are of this class. Some were proved to be
so during the life-time of the parties. The case of Mr.
Wood of West Barnstable is an illustration. He charged
Liza with putting a bridle and saddle on him and riding him
many times to Plum Pudding Pond in Plymouth, where the
witches held their nightly orgies. Though Mr. Wood had
palpable evidence of the falsity of the charge, yet for many
years he continued to relate the story, and evidently believed
he was telling the truth. This case, if it proves anything,
proves that Mr. Wood was a monomaniac.
Another question arises, how it happened that a woman
who sustained the good character of Elizabeth Blachford,
should be made the scape-goat of the flock, and be charged
with being in league with the devil, and as a witch, persecu-
ted for more than half a century. Some of the reasons may
be found that induced the belief; but none that will justify
her persecution. Her father's house was in the forest, two
miles from a neighbor. At that time wolves and other wild
animals abounded ; Indians were constantly scouring the for-
ests for game, and their great "trail" from Yarmouth to
Hyarmis, now visible, passed near Mr. Lewis' house. The
solitariness of the residence, and the associations of raven-
ous beasts, and of more cruel Indians therewith, inspired
awe, and led the popular mind into the belief that the fam-
ily must be connected with evil spirits, or they could not
live in such a wild place in safety. Elizabeth's husband
built a house a mile west of her father's, on the borders of
Half- Way Pond. She was only sixteen and one-half years
old, and that a young woman should have the courage to live
102 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
alone in the woods, seemed in that superstitions age to car-
ry with it the evidence that she was in league with the devil.
It is unnecessary to add that such reasoning is unconclusive ;
the superstitious never examine facts, or inquire respecting
the soundness of the opinions they adopt.
When Mrs. Blachford was charged with being a witch,
she always took offence, and resented the charge as false and
malicious. Her children would not allow any one with im-
punity to tell them that their mother was a witch. Even
her grandson Uriah, who died about fifteen years ago, aged
over eighty, was very sensitive on the subject, and the man
who dared to tell him his grandmother was a witch, he would
never forget or forgive.
The days of witchcraft are now numbered and past, —
the few who still believe in it cautiously conceal their opin-
ions. It is fortunate for the reputation of the Plymouth
Colony that no one therein was ever convicted, condemned,
or punished for that crime. Our rulers had the good sense
to punish the complainant in the first case that arose, instead
of the person complained of. If a different decision had then
been made, a thousand complaints would have arisen and
similar acts to those which disgrace the annals of Salem and
Massachusetts, would now disgrace the history of Plymouth
and Barnstable.
The ashes of Elizal)eth Blachford rest quietly in the
grave-yard near the East Church. No phoenix spirit has
arose therefrom to disturb the equanimity of the living, or
disturb the repose of the dead. Neither ghosts nor hobgob-
lins are seen to dance over her grave, or sigh because the
manes of the last witch have fled.
The family of William Blachford and his wife Elizabeth
Lewis, born in Barnstable :
I. Peter, born May 10, 1729.
II. Lydia, April 5, 1734; died young.
III. Benjamin, June 11, 1738, married 1761, Sai-ah God-
frey of Yarmouth, and had a family.
IV. Kemember, March 3, 1739-40. married Luke Butler
of Nantucket, Oct. 9. 1760.
V. Mercy, April 13, 1742.
VI. David, June 17, 1744, married Elizabeth Ellis of
Provincetown, 1765. He died Nov. 16, 1822, ao-ed
78. "^
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 103
VII. Lydia, May 22, 1746, married Ellis.
VIII. William, June 25, 1750. He married Monica .
I believe she was an Eldridge from Harwich. She
lived at one time in a house built over a large, flat
rock, on the west side of Monica's Swamp in Barn-
stable. After their marriage they lived in the house
which was his mother's at Half-Way Pond. He was
a soldier in the Revolutionary Army. He deserted ;
but being an invalid and unable to stand up straight
no eflbrt was made to secure his return to the army.
Col. Otis was instructed to have him arrested as a
deserter as an example to others. Bill, however, on
his way home, passed the house of Col. Otis. At the
time, he and some of his neighbors were standing in
his yard. One of them said "There comes Bill Blach-
ford." The Colonel turned quickly around, and look-
ing in an opposite direction, exclaimed, "Where is
the rascal?" Without turning, the Colonel went into
his house and Bill escaped. A little further on Bill
met with others who knew him, and they inquired
where he was from. Bill replied, "Straight from
the camp." "Then," replied the first speaker, "you
have got most d y warped by the way." He died
Aug. 30, 1816, aged 66, leaving no children.
BOURNE.
RICHARD BOURNE.
In the biographical dictionaries and in many historical
works, there are short sketches of the life and character of
Richard Bourne. No biography of this distinguished man
has been written. I shall not attempt it. My purpose is
to elucidate one point in his character, namely : the politi-
cal influence of his labors as a missionary, — a point not en-
tirely overlooked by early writers, — but historians have
failed to give to it that prominence it deserves. The facts
bearing on this point will be stated in a condensed form.
Aside from his labors as a missionar3% Richard Bourne
was a man of note. He was often a representative to the
General Court ; held many town offices ; often served on
committees, and as a referee in important cases. He was a
well-informed man ; discreet, cautious, of sound judgment,
and of good common sense. There is reason to doubt
whether he brought to New England so large an estate as
has been represented. The division of the meadows at
Sandwich does not indicate that he was a man of wealth.
He was a good business man, and while he carefully guarded
the interests of the Indians, he did not forget to lay up
treasures for himself.
John Eliot, Thomas Mayhew, father and son, Richard
Bourne, John Cotton, Daniel Gookin, and Thomas Tupper
consecrated their lives to the philanthropic purpose of meli-
orating the condition of the Indians. They instructed them
in the arts of civilized life ; they established schools, and
they founded churches. Many of the Indians were con-
verted to Christianity, and lived pious and holy lives ; very
many of them were taught to read and write their native
language, and a few were good English scholars.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 105
Mr. Bourne was the pastor of the Indian Church at
Marshpee,* gathered in 1670. The apostles Eliot and Cot-
ton assisted at his ordination. His parish extended from
Provincetown to Middleboro' — one hundred miles. He
commenced his labors as a missionary about the year 1658,
and in his return to Major Gookin, dated Sandwich, Sept.
1, 1674, he says he is the only Englishman employed in this
extensive region, and the results of his labors are stated in
his return, of which the following is a condensed abstract :
"Praying Indians that do frequently meet together on
the Lord's Day to worship God." He names twenty-two
places where meetings were held. The number of men and
women that attended these meetings was three hundred and
nine. Young men and maids, one hundred and eighty-
eight. Whole number of praying Indians, four hundred
and ninety-seven. Of these one hundred and forty-two
could read the Indian language, seventy-two could write,
and nine could read English.
The labors of Mr. Bourne and his associates have not
been sufficiently appreciated by historians. In 1675, the
far-seeing Philip, Sachem of Mount Hope, had succeeded
in uniting the Western Indians in a league, the avowed ob-
ject whereof was the extermination of the white inhabitants
of New England. His emissaries in vain attempted to in-
duce the Christianized Indians to join that league. They
remained faithful. Eichard Bourne, aided by Thomas Tup-
per of Sandwich, Mr. Thornton of Yarmouth and Mr. Treat
of Eastham had a controlling influence over the numerous
bands of Indians then resident in the County of Barnstable,
in Wareham, Eochester and Middleboro'. Mr. Mayhew ex-
erted a like controlling influence over the natives of Martha's
Vineyard and the adjacent islands.
In 1674, the year preceding King Philip's war, the re-
turns made to Major Gookin, show that the aggregate num-
ber of Christianized or praying Indians
•*Maesi-ipee.— Mr. Hawlev. who understood the Indian language, says
it should he written Massa'pe. This word is from the same root as
Mississippi, and literally moans Great Eiver. The principal stream in
the plantation is called Marshpee or Great River.
10b GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
In Massachusetts, was _ _ _ - 1100
In Plymouth, Mr. Bourne's return, - - - 497
In '« Mr. Cotton's partial, - - - 40
Estimated number not enumerated, - - 170
On Martha's Vineyard and Chappaquidock, - 1500
On Nantucket, - - 300
3607
It is not to be presumed that, at that time, more than
one-half of the Indians had been converted, or were nom-
inally Christians. Perhaps a fair estimate of the Indian
population in 1675, in the territory comprised in the eastern
part of the present Srate of Massachusetts, would be 7000 ;
one-fifth, or 1400 ot whom were warriors.
On account of the jealousies and suspicions entertained
by the English in Massachusetts, the Indians rendered little
service to the whites. Mr. Eliot and Major Gookin suffered
reproaches and insults for endeavoring to repress the popu-
lar rage against their pupils. Some of the praying Indians
of Natick, and from other places in Massachusetts, were
transported to Deer Island in Boston harbor. Some of the
Indians in Plymouth Colony, particularly those at Pembroke,
were conveyed to Clarke's Island, Plymouth.
On Martha's Vineyard and on the Cape, the Indians
were friendly to the English. Many enlisted and fought
bravely against the forces of Philip. Capt. Daniel of Sa-
tucket, (Brewster), and Capt. Amos distinguished them-
selves in the war and are honorably mentioned. In the
course of the war, the number of prisoners became embar-
rassing, and they were sent to the Cape and Martha's Vine-
yard, and were safely kept by the friendly Indians.
Major Walley says that the English were rarely suc-
cessful when they were not aided by Indian auxiliaries, and
urges this as a reason tor treating them kindly. The reader
of the "History of the Indian Wars" will find many facts to
corroborate the opinion of Major Walley.
In the spring of 1676 the armies of Philip were victo-
rious, and the inhabitants of Plymouth Colony were panic
stricken and despondent. If at that time the one thousand
Indian warriors, who were influenced and controlled by
Bourne and Mayhew had become enemies, the contest in
Plymouth Colony would not have been doubtful, the oiher
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 107
towns would have been destroyed and met the fate of Dart-
mouth, Middleboro' and Swanzey. At this time three hun-
dred men could not be raised to march for the defence of
Eehobeth. All the towns, excepting Sandwich and Scituate,
raised their quotas ; but many of the soldiers that went
forth, returned to their homes without marching to the de-
fence of their frontier towns.
In 1675, Gov. Hinckley enumerated the Christianized
Indians embraced in the region of country which had been
under the superintendence of Mr. Bourne. The number had
increased from four hundred and ninety-seven in 1674, to
ten hundred and fourteen in 1685. Showing that in a
period of eleven years the number had more than doubled.
In 1676, no enumeration of the Indians was made ; but it
is within the bounds of probability to assume that in the
district of country under the supervision and care of Mr.
Bourne there were at least six hundred Indian warriors.
Had these at this particular conjuncture turned rebels, the
whites could not have defended their towns and villages
against the savages, and Plymouth Colony would have be-
come extinct.
It ma}' be urged that Mr. Bourne could not have done
this unaided and alone ; or, if he had not, God in his provi-
dence would have raised up some other instruments to have
effected this great purpose. The fact is Richard Bourne by
his unremitted labors for seventeen years made friends of a
sufficient number of Indians, naturally hostile to the English,
to turn the scale in Plymouth Colony and give the prepon-
derence to the whites. He did this, and it is to him who
does, that we are to award honor. Bourne did more by the
moral power which he exerted to defend the Old Colony
than Bradford did at the head of the army. Laurel wreaths
shade the brows of military heroes — their names are en-
shrined in a bright halo of glory — while the man who has
done as good service for his country by moral means, sinks
into comparative insignificance, and is too often forgotten.
The Apostle Eliot, Mr. Mayhew, and other missiona-
ries, performed like meritorious services. The people of
Massachusetts were more suspicious of the good faith of the
converted Indians, than the residents in the Plymouth
Colony. These Indians were treated unkindly by the En-
glish, yet a company from Natick proved faithful, and did
good service in the war.
108 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Of the early history of Mr. Eichard Bourne little is
known. It is said he came from Devonshire, England. He
was a householder in Plymouth in 1636, and his name ap-
pears on the list of freemen of the Colony, dated March 7,
1636-7. On the 2d of January preceding, seven acres of
land were granted to him to belong to. his dwelling-house.
At the same court seven acres of land were granted to John
Bourne, in behalf of his father, Mr. Thomas Bourne.
May 2, 1637, he was on a jury to lay out the highways
about Plymouth, Duxbury and Eel Eiver. June 5, 1638,
he was a grand juror, and also a member of u coroner's in-
quest. On the 4th of September following, he was an in-
habitant of Sandwich, and fined 18 pence for having three
pigs unringed. He was a deputy to the first general court
in 1639, and excepting 1643, represented the town of Sand-
wich till 1645 ; again in 1652, 1664, '65, '66, '67 and '70.
In the division of the meadows in Sandwich in 1640,
he had seven acres assigned to him.
In 1645 he was on the committee elected to draft laws
for the Colony ; in 1652 agent of the Colony to receive oil
in Sandwich. In 1655, Sarah, daughter of Eichard Kerby,
was sentenced to be punished severely by whipping, for ut-
tering divers suspicious speeches against Mr. Bourne and
Mr. Freeman, but the execution was respited till she should
again be guilty of a like offence. In 1659 he and Mr.
Thomas Plinckley were authorized to purchase lands of the
Indians at Suckinesset,* and the same year he and Mr.
Freeman wei'e ordered to view some land at Manomet, and
confirm the sapie to Thomas Burgis.
In 1658 he was one of four referees to settle a disputed
boundary between Yarmouth and Barnstable. The boundary
established by them is the present bounds, but the grant of
the township to which they refer in their report is lost.
In 1661, he and Nathaniel Bacon and Mr. Thomas
Hinckley were authorized to purchase all lands theft unpur-
chased at Suckinesset and places adjacent.
* Sue KiNES SETT the Indian nnme ol the town ol Falmouth is variously-
spelled on the records. It means '-the place where hlack wampum
(Indian money) is made." I prefer the orthos^raphy here given, because
the roots of the words from which the name is compounded can be more
easily traced. Sucki means black ; the terminal syllable is applied to
places on the sea-shore, or by water. The other syllables I cannot ex-
plain.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 109
In 1650, he and others of Sandwich petitioned to have
larids granted to them at the following places : Marshpee
pond, Cotuit river, and meadow at Mannamuch bay. In
] (i55, he and others had meadows granted them at Manomet,
and the use of some upland meadow at the end of Marshpee
pond was granted to him, if the Indians consented. In 1660,
he had authority to locate land at South Sea, above Sand-
wich, and in 1661 Mr. Alden and Mr. Hinckley laid out to
him "a competency of meadow" there.
At a General Court held at Plymouth June 4, 1661, the
Court granted unto Richard Bourne of Sandwich, and to his
heirs forever, a long strip of land on the west side of Pani-
paspised river, where Sandwich men take alewives — in
breadth from the river to the hill or ridge that runs along
the length of it, from a point of rocky land by a swamp
called Pametoopauksett, unto a place called by the English
Muddy Hole, by the Indians Wapoompauksett. "The
meadow is that which was called Mr. Leverich's ; " also, the
other strips that are above, along the river side, unto a point
bounded with two great stones or I'ocks ; also all the meadow
lying on the easterly side of the siiid river unto Thomas
Burgess, Senior's farm.* Also, "yearly liberty to take
twelve thousand alewives at the river where Sandwich men
usually take alewives, him and his heirs forever." Likewise
a parcel of meadow at Marshpee — one-half to belong to him
and the other half to be improved by him. Also, a neck of
meadow between two brooks with a little upland adjoining,
at Mannamuchcoy, called by the Indians Auntaanta.
Feb. 7, 1664-5, "Whereas, a motion was made to this
Court by Richard Bourne in the behalf of those Indians
under his instruction, as to their desire of living in some
orderly way of government, for the better preventing and
redressing of things amiss amongst them by meet and just
means, this Court doth therefore in testimony of their coun-
tenancing and encouraging to such a work, doe approve of
*The farm of Thomas Burgei5s was at West Sandwicb, and is no^Y
owned by his descendant, Benjamin Burgess, Esq. He had also another
farm at Manomet, which adjoined Mr. Bourne's land. Mr. Leverich's
meadow was granted in 1660, but fraudulent means having been used to
obtain It, the grant was revoked and the meadow granted to Mr. Bourne
in 1661. The long track of land above described is near the Monument
station on the Cape Cod Bailroad, the railway passing through its whole
length.
110 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAIMILIES.
these Indians proposed, viz : Paupmunnacke,* Keecomsett,
Watanamatucke and Nanquidnumacke, Kanoonus and Mo-
crust, to have the chief inspection and managcraent thereof,
with the help and advice of the said Richard Bourne, as the
matter may require ; and that one of the aforesaid Indians
be by the rest instated to act as a constable amongst them,
it being always provided, notwithstanding, that what homage
accustomed legally due to any superior Sachem be not here-
by infringed. — [Colony Records, Vol. 4, page 80.]
April 2, 1667, Mr. Richard Bourne, William Bassett
and James Skiffe, Senior, with the commissioned officers of
Sandwich, were appointed on the Council of War. He was
also on the Council in 1676. June 24, 1670, he and seven
others agreed to purchase all the tar made within the Colony
for the two years next ensuing at 8 shillings per small bar-
rel, and 12 shillings per large barrel, the same to be deliv-
ered at the water-side in each town.
Nearly all the purchases of land of the Indians made in
Sandwich or vicinity during the life-time of Mr. Bourne,
were referred to him, a fact which shows that the English
and the Indians had confidence in him as a man of integrity.
At the solicitation of Mr. Bourne, the tract of land at
South Sea, containing about 10,500 acres, and known as the
plantation of Marshpee, was reserved by grant from the
Colony to the South Sea Indians. The late Rev. Mr. Hawly
of Marshpee, says, "Mr. Bourne was a man of that discern-
ment that he considered it as vain to propagate Christian
knowledge among any people without a territory where
they might remain in peace, from generation to generation,
and not be ousted." The first deed of the Marshpee lands
is dated Dec. 11, 1665, signed by Tookenchosen and Weep-
quish, and confirmed unto them bj^ Quachateset, Sachem of
Manomett. In 1685, the lands conveyed by said deed were
by the Old Colony Court "confirmed to them and secured
to said South Sea Indians and their children forever, so as
* Paupmunnacke was the sachem of the Indi.ans in the westerly part
of Barnstable, at Scorton, and perhaps of Marshpee. Keencumsett was
sachem of the Mattakesits. His house stood a little distance north of
the present Capt. Thomas Percival's. He was constable. The residences
of the other sachems named I cannot define. These facts show that as
early as 1665 an orderly form of government was established among the
Indians. They held coui'ts of their own, tried criminals, passed judg-
ments, etc. Mr. Bourne and Gov. Hinckley frequently attended these
Indian courts and aided the Indian magistrates in difficult cases.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. Ill
never to be given, sold or alienated from them without all
their consents."
The first marriage of Mr. Richard Bourne is not on the
Colony Records. As he was a householder in Plymouth in
1636, it may safely be inferred that he was then a married
man. His first wife, and the mother of all his children, was
probably Bathsheba, a daughter of Mr. Andrew Hallet,
Senior. He married 2d July, 1677, Ruth, widow of Jona-
than VVinslow, and daughter of Mr. William Sargeant of
Barnstable. Mr. Bourne died in 1682, and his widow
married Eider John Chipman. She died in 1713, aged 71
years.
No record of the births of the children of Richard
Bourne has been preserved. His eldest son was probably
born in Plymouth ; the others in Sandwich.
I. Job married Dec. 14, 1664, Ruhama Hallet.
n. Elisha, born 1641, married Oct. 26, 1675, Patience
Skifi-.
IH. Shearjashub, born 1644, married Bathshea Skiff, 1673.
IV. Ezra, born May 12, 1648. He was living in 1676,
when he was fined £2 as a delinquent soldier.
Job Bourne, son of Richard, married Dec. 14, 1664,
his cousin, Ruhama, daughter of Andrew Hallet of Yar-
mouth. He resided in Sandwich, where he was find in 1672
for not serving as constable. He died in 1676, leaving a
large landed estate, which was settled March 6, 1676-7. His
widow afterwards married Hersey.
in the record, which is very full, it is stated that the
deceased left five children, butthe names of John and Hannah
are omitted, probably by mistake. On the Barnstable Pro-
bate records is an instrument bearing date of 13th Sept.
1714, signed by Jonathan Mory and his wife Hannah,
called a settlement of Job Bourne's estate. In this paper
all the children are named excepting John. Jonathan's
mother-in-law, Ruhama Hersey, is named. Children of
Job Bourne, born in Sandwich :
I. Timothy, born 18th April, 1666, married Temperance
Swift.
II. Hannah, born 18th Nov. 1667, married Jonathan
Mory, Esq., of Plymouth.
III. Eleazer, born 20th July, 1670.
112 GENEALOGICAL NOTES .OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
IV. John, born 2d Nov. 1672. He resided with his grand-
mother Hallet, at Yarmouth.
V. Hezekiah, born 25th Sept. 1675.
Timothy, son of Job, married Temperance Swift of
Sandwich, and had Job, Benjamin, Timothy, Joanna and
Mehitable. His will is dated in 1729, and proved in 1744.
His son Timothy married Elizabeth Bourne, and had sons
Benjamin and Shearjashub, H. C, 1764. Benjamin, son of
Benjamin, married Bodfish, and had Benjamin,
Timothy, Sally, Martha, Temperance, Elizabeth and Han-
nah. Shearjashub married Doaiie, and had John,
Shearjashub, Elisha, Abigail, Nancy and Elizabeth.
Eleazer, son of Job, married Hatch, and had
Isaac, Job and Mercy. Job, son of Eleazer, married
Swift, and had Thomas, Thankful, Maria, Deborah and
Lydia.
Thomas, son of Job, married Bourne, and had
Alvan, Job, John, Mary, Deborah, Lydia, Hannah and
Abigail .
.fohn, son of Job, married and had a daughter Amia,
who married a Sturtevant.
Hezekiah, youngest son of Job, married Eliza Trow-
bridge, and had a son Ebenezer, who married Annah
Bumpal, 1746, and had Ebenezer, .John, Benjamin, Mehita-
ble and Mary. Ebenezer, Jr., married three wives, and had
four sons, John, Josiah, Ebenezer and Leonard C. Benja-
min, son of Ebenezer, Senior, married Hannah Perry, and
had Alexander, Ebenezer, Elisha, Sylvanus, Abigail and
Bathsheba.
The Sylvanus last named, is the late Sylvanus Bourne,
Esq., of Wareham, widely known as the late Superintendent
of the Cape Cod Eailroad.*
Elisha Bourne, son of Richard, born in Sandwich in
1641, resided at Manomet, near the present location of the
Monument Depot, on the Cape Cod Railroad. He was con-
stable of Sandwich in 1683, and a deputy trom that town to
the last General Court held at Plymouth in 1691. His will
* I have a genealogy of the Bournes prepared by Sylvanus Bourne ;
but it gives no dates, and does not give the Christian name of the wife.
It is of little service. The portions of this genealogy where dates and
the Christian names of the wives are omitted, is copied from that gen-
ealogy, and I cannot vouch for its accuracy.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 113
is dated Jane 9, 1698, proved March 3, 1706-7. He names
his wife Patience, his sons John and Elisha (the latter it ap-
pears was not in good health), and his five daughters, Abi-
gail, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary and Bathsheba. The estate
was finally settled by agreement, dated April 8, 1718, at
which time Mrs. Bourne and her son Elisha were dead. The
agreement is signed by Nathan, "only son," and all the
daughters and their husbands.
Elisha Bourne married 26th Oct. 1675, Patience,
daughter of James Skiff, Esq. , of Sandwich. She was born
25th March, 1652, and died in 1718, aged 66. He died in
1706.
Children born in Sandwich.
I. Nathan, born Aug. 31, 1676, married Mary Basset.
II. Elizabeth, born June 26, 1679, married John Pope.
III. Mary, born Feb. 4, 1681-2, married John Percival.
IV. Abigail, born July 22, 1684, married William Basset,
Jr.
V. Bathsheba, born Dec. 13, 1686, married Micah Black
well.
VI. Hannah, born May 4, 1689, married Seth Pope.
VII. Elisha, born July 27, 1692 ; died young.
Nathan, only surviving son of Elisha, was a shipwright.
He died in 1789, in Hanover. His estate in that town was
appraised at £727.17.2, and in Sandwich at £898.18.10;
a large estate in those times. He married Basset,
had Jonathan, John, Nathan, Elisha, Thomas, Maria, Eliza-
beth and Mary. Jonathan married Dec. 22, 1748, Susannah
Mendal, and had John, Elisha, Nathan, Maria and Abigail.
John, son of Nathan, married Dillingham, and had
Edward, Mary, Abigail and Hannah. Nathan, Jr., married
, and had Samuel and Remembrance. Elisha,
son of Nathan, Senior, married , and had
Stephen and Eunice. Thomas, son of Nathan, Senior, mar-
ried Randall, and had Nathan, Lemuel, William,
Anselm, Samuel, Asa, Bethuel, Thomas, Lucy, Elizabeth
and Mary. Of the sixth generation of this branch of the
family, Elisha, son of Jonathan, married Nye, and
had Jonathan, Charles, Hannah, Mehitable, Abigail and
Joanna. Stephen, son of Elisha, married Pope, and
had Elisha and Richard.
114 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Shearjashub Bourne, Esq., son of Eiohard, resided on
the Marshpee Plantation until his death, living in reputation
and presiding over the Indians, with whom he carried on a
lucrative trade. I cannot find, says Mr. Hawley, that he
made any trespasses on their lands, or was instrumental in
bringing about an alienation of any part thereof. He was
much employed in public business, was often a representa-
tive to the General Court at Plymouth and in Boston. He
married in 1673, Bathsheba, daughter of James Skiff, Esq.,
of Sandwich. . She was born 20th April, 1648, and was not
living at the decease of her husband. He died March 7,
1718-19, aged 75. In his will, dated on the day next pre-
ceding his death, he names all his children, except Sarah,
who probably died young. To his eldest son Melatiah, he
gave all his lands in the town of Falmouth ; to his son Ezra
all his lands in Marshpee ; to bis grandson Shearjashub,
£100 ; to his grandson Joseph, £100 ; to his daughter Mary,
£200 ; to his daughter Eemember, £200 ; to his daughter
Patience, £200 ; and to the Church in Sandwich £8. His
estate was appraised at £943.16.
He took a deep interest in the well-being of the Indians
and was their constant friend, and adopted measures to
secure to them and their heirs forever their lands.
The children of Shearjashub Bourne, born in Sandwich,
were :
I. Melatiah, born 12th Jan'y, 1673-4, married Feb. 23,
1695-6, Desire Chipman.
II. Ezra, born 6th Aug. 1676, married Martha Prince.
III. Mary, born 21st Oct. 1678, married Allen.
IV. Sarah, born 6th Feb. 1680-1.
V. Eemember, born 6th Feb. 1683-4, married May-
hew.
VI. Patience, born 20th April, 1686, married Alien.
Ezra, the youngest son of Shearjashub, inherited the
Marshpee estate on which he lived, and presided over the
Indians, over whom to the day of his death, he maintained
a great ascendency. He was one of the most distinguished
and influential men of his time. He was Chief Ju'stice of
the Court of Sessions, and Court of Common. Pleas. He
died Sept. 1 764, in the 88th year of his age. The late Eev.
Gideon Hawley of Marshpee, says of him, -'In him I lost a
good friend."
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 115
Hon. Ezra Bourne married Martha, daughter ot Samuel
Prince, and had
I. Joseph, who was liberally educated, and ordained as
the pastor of the Marshpee Church in 1729. He re-
signed the mission in 1742. He married July 25,
1743, Hannah Fuller of Barnstable, and died in 1767,
leaving no issue.
II. Samuel, son of Ezra, married L'Hommedieu,
and had Benjamin, Samuel, Nathaniel, Nathan, Tim-
othy, Sarah and Elizabeth, all of whom married.
HI. Ezra, son of Ezra.
IV. Searjashub, married Bosworth, and had Shear-
jashub, Benjamin and Martha, all of whom married —
the eldest having a family of thirteen. Benjamin was
eludge of the District Court of Rhode Island.
V. Martha, daughter of Ezra, married a Mr. L'Homme-
dieu.
VI. Mary, daughter of Ezra, married 1733, John Angler,
first minister of East Bridgewater.
VII. Elizabeth, daughter of Ezra, married Timothy Bourne.
'l"he descendants of Ezra Bourne, Esq., as they are not
of Barnstable, I shall not trace farther. In 1794, three of
his grandsons were members of Congress ; one from Massa-
chusetts, one from Ehode Island and another from New-
York.
Hon. Melatiah Bourne,* oldest son of Shearjashub
Bourne, Esq., inherited his father's lands in Falmouth, but
he settled in Sandwich. He was a distinguished man, held
many responsible offices, and during the last years of his
life was Judge of Probate for the County of Barnstable.
He married Feb. 23, lf)92-3. Desire, youngest daughter of
Elder John Chipman. She died March 28, 1705, and he
married second, Abigail, widow of Thomas Smith. In his
will, dated 24th Sept. 1742, proved Feb. 15th following,
he gives to the Sandwich Church £10, old tenor, or 50 shil-
lings lawful money. He names his wife Abigail, her sons
Samuel and John Smith, her daughter Rebecca, Mary and
Isaac, children of her son Shubael, deceased, and her
grandson. Doctor Thomas Smith, to all of whom he gave
* His house is yet remaining in Sandwich ; it was most substantially
built. The cliipboards on the walls were shaved from cedar about an
inch ill thickness, and nailed with wrought nails. They are now tight
and as good as new.
116 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
legacies. He gave his cane to his eldest grandson, Melatiah,
and his clock to his son Silas. Names his son S3^1vanus ;
gave to his son John and grandson Joseph, his lands in
Falmouth. He gave legacies to his daughter Bathsheba
Euggles and to each of the children she had by her late
husband, William Newcomb. He orders his negro man Nei'o
to be manumitted. Children of Hon. Melatiah Bourne :
I. Sylvanns, Sept. 10, 1694, married Mercy Gorham,
March 20, 1718.
n. Richard, Aug. 13, 1695 ; died in Falmouth, 1738.
ni. Samuel, Feb'. 7, 1697 ; died young.
IV. Sarah, Feb. 7, 1697 ; died young.
V. John, March 10, 1698, married March 16, 1772,
Maty Hinckley.
VI. Shearjashub, Dec. 21, 1699, married four wives.
VII. Silas, Dec. 10, 1701, married Allen.
VIII. Bathsheba, Nov. 11, 1703, married William New-
comb; second, Timothy Ruggles, 1736.
Hon. Sylvanus Bourne, son of Melatiah, of Sandwich,
born Sept. 10, 1694, married in 1717, Mercy, daughter of
Col. John Gorham of Barnstable. In 1720, he was an in-
habitant of Falmouth, but soon after removed to Barnstable,
where he resided till his death. He bought the estate which
was Mr. James Whippo's, who removed to Boston in 1708.
Mr. Thomas Sturgis, who died that year, bought this estate
for his son Edward ; but it passed not many years after into
the possession of the Bourne family, in which it continued
about a century.
He inherited a good estate from his father, and his Avife
belonged to one of the most wealthy families in Barnstable.
In early life he was a merchant, and engaged in commer-
cial business, in which he was successful, and became
wealthy. He was a Colonel of the militia, many years one
of the Governor's Council, Register of Probate, and after
the death of his father in 1742, was appointed Judge of
Probate.
He died in 1764. In his will, dated May 20, 1763, he
names hig sons Melatiah, to whom he gives £66.13 : Wil-
liam, £133.6.8; and Richard, £133.6.8. To each of his
five daughters, namely, Desire Clap, Mary Stone, Hannah
Hinckley, Mercy Jordan and Eunice Gallison, £66.13.4
each. He also gives legacies to his grand-children Reuben,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF 15AKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 117
Joseph and Abigail Winslow, children of his deceased
daughter Abigail. He appoints his wife Mercy sole execu-
trix, and gives her the residue of his large estate.
The will of Mrs. Mercy Bourne, widow of Hon. Sylva-
nus, is dated July 10, 1781, and was proved May 28, 1782.
She gives to her son Richard, all her real estate — lands,
buildings, woodlands and meadows, a silver hilted sword
that was his father's, a large silver tankard that was his
grandfather's, her best great Bible, two pair of oxen, one
cow, half her sheep, all her husbandry tools, &c.
To her three daughters Desire Clap, Mary Stone and
Hannah Hinckley, she gave all her plate (except tankai-d to
Richard, and silver porringer to Mei'cy), all her wearing
apparel and household furniture, excepting what she had
given Richard, and £30 each.
To her granddaughter Abigail Gallison, her mother's
work, called a chimney-piece. Also, two mourning rings,
her grandfather Bourne's and her mother's.
She gave to her daughter Mercy Jordan, a work called
the Coat of Arms, one silver porringer and £(5, over and
above what she had already had of her.
She also gave the following legacies :
To the children of her son Melatiah, deceased, £30.
To the children of her daughter Abigail, deceased, £20.
To the children of her daughter Eunice, deceased, £20.
To the children of her son William, £20.
To son-in-law John Gallison, Esq., £10.
To daughter-in-law Hannah JBourne, £3.
She gave her negro boy Cato to her son Richard, on
the following conditions, that is,, as soon as the said Cato
shall arrive to the age of 35 years, her said son Richard shall
manumit him. Her negro girl Chloe she gave "to such
daughter as Chloe should prefer to live with, the daughter
receiving her to pay such sum as said girl shall be apprized
at."
She appointed her son Richard sole executor and resi-
duary legatee, and ordered him to pay all the legacies in
silver dollars at six shillings each.
The portrait of Mrs. Bourne, painted by Copley in
1766, has been preserved, and some of the worsted work
named in her will. The old family portraits were stowed
away in the garret of the late Sylvanus Bourne, and finally
118 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
removed to his barn, where they were destroyed by fire.
One of them was saved ; and after having been used as a
target, is now in the possession of Major S. B. Pliinnoy,
who has had it restored. Pie also has a view of Boston
Common talien more than a century ago, wrought in worsted,
which formerly belonged to his ancestor, Colonel Sylvaniis
Bourne. N. S. Simpkins, Esq., who is also a descendant,
has a specimen of worsted work that belonged to tlie Bourne
family.
The facts which have been stated show that Colonel
Sylvanus Bourne was a man of wealth ; and that he lived in
the st^de of an English country gentleman. Facts are per-
haps not wanting to show that he had little respect for the
simplicity of his puritan ancestry. Some of the family joined
the Episcopal Cliurch, and the fact that Mrs. Bourne in her
portrait is represented as holding in her hand a copy of the
English prayer book, shows that she had a predilection for
the Episcopacy.
Mrs. Bourne joined the Barnstable Church Sept. 20,
1724, and on the Fourth of July, 1729, was admitted to the
Church in the East Parish, being dismissed with many others
at that time from the West Parish. All her children were
baptized at the Barnstable Church. She died according to
the inscription on her grave stones, April 11, 1782, in the
87th year of her age.
The children of Colonel Sylvanus Bourne and his wife
Mercy Gorham, were all born in Barnstable, except Mary,
who was born in Falmouth.
Children horn in Barnstable.
I. Desire, born Jan'y 19, 1718 ; bap'd Oct. 4, 1724, mar-
ried Nathaniel Clap, Esq., of Scituatc, Dec. 22, 1737.
He was a son of Deacon Stephen, and a brother of
Thomas, President of Yale College — one of the most
distinguished men of learninir of his time.
II. Mary, born April 22, 1720, bap'd Oct. 4, 1724, married
1742, Nathaniel Stone, Jr., of Harwich.
III. Melatiah, born Nov. 14, 1722, l)ap'd Oct. 4, 1724, mar-
ried Mary Bayard, niece of Gov. Bowdoin. His son,
Capt. Sylvanus, was Consul many years at Amsterdam.
Portraits of his children taken at Amsterdam, are in the
possession of Major S. B. Phinney. His son Meiatiah,
married Olive Gorham, and had Meiatiah, Sylvanus
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 119
and Olive — the latter the mother of Major S. B. Phin-
ney of Barnstable, and George Phinney, Esq., of North
Bridgewater. The other children of Melatiah were
Sarah and Mary.
Melatiah Bourne, Esq., died Sept. 1778, alter a
long and painful illness, aged 56. His monument in the
grave-yard, near the Church, in the East Parish in
Barnstable, says :
"He was a gentleman who, in public employ, con-
ducted with great reputation to himself, and honor to
his country. And in the more private walks of sociable
life exhibited those virtues which have raised in the
bosoms of those who knew him, a monument that shall
exist when this stone shall be mouldered to its native
dust. In him the Christian graces shone with peculiar
lustre, and the plaudit of an approving conscience was
the summit of his ambition."
" Surely when men like these depart,
The cause of virtue deeply feels the wound."
IV. William, born Feb. 27, 1723-4, bap'd Oct. 4, 1724.
Tradition saith, and its accuracy is vouched for by Col.
Swett, that when a child he was prostrated by an
apjDalling disease, pronounced by the medical faculty
incurable. The Indians, who remembered all the
meml)ers of the Bourne family with affection, did not
despair, and came with the medicine men of their tribe
to try the effect of their simple remedies and incanta-
tions. The tender mother did not hesitate to submit
her beloved son to savage rites and Indian remedies ;
and from that hour, says Col. Swett, the child was
made whole.
He served in Gorham's Kangers at the taking of
Louisburg in 1757. He settled in Marblehead, and
was a wealthy merchant. He was a Justice of one of
the Courts. He exerted his influence in procuring a
charter and raising funds to build the bridge at New-
bury, and for his services he had the honor to be the
first to pass over it. He was a Colonel of the
militia, and died in 1770.
He married for his first wife a daughter of Lieut.
Gov. Hazard, and for his second a dauo;hter of Judge
Tasker, and widow of James Fessenden of Marblehead.
120 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
He had three daughters : Clarissa, Charlotte and Fanny.
One married Col. Orne of Marblehead, another Dr.
Swett of Newburyport, and the third Judge Peabody
of Exeter, N. H., the father of the authors of that
name.
[From the Boston Weekly News Letter of 30th August, 1770.]
"On Wednesday were interred the Eemains of the
Hon. William Bourn, Esq., Son of the Hon. Sylvanus
Bourn, Esq. ; late of Barnstable : — A Gentleman blessed
with good natural Abilities, which were improved by a
liberal Education and an extensive acquaintance with
the world.
In early Life he was engaged in the military Service,
and has since been constantly honored with public Em-
ployments, which he filled with dignity, and discharged
with uprightness.
In the vale of private life, where merit is impartially
examined, his worth was conspicuous : His vivacity,
frankness, and delicacy of sentiment, endeared him to
every acquaintance, and to his honor, his free, social
hours will long be remembered by ihem with delight.
The goodness of his heart and the integrity of his
life corresponded to the clearness of his head ; so that
he beheld with philosophic firmness and Christian re-
signation his approaching dissolution ; and, a few days
before his death, discovered an uncommon vigor and
serenit}' of mind in the orderly disposition of his af-
fairs.
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus Tam cari capitis ?
> &c., to Quando ullum inveniet parem."
V. Hannah, born Dec. 8, 1725, bap'd Jan'y 9, 172(5,
married Isaac Hinckley, Jr., Dec. 18, 1748, of Barrl-
stable. She had eight children.
VI. Mercy, born Monday, Aug. 22, 1727, says the record,
and bap'd Aug. 27, following. She m-arried Samuel
Jordan, Esq., of Biddeford, Maine, April 10, 1751.
VII. Abigail, born Saturday, June 21, 1729, bap'd next
day according to Puritan custom. She married March
14, 1754, Kenelm Winslow, Jr., ot Marshfield. She
died before her father, leaving three children as above
stated.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 121
VIII. Sylvanus, horn (says the town record, and his grave-
stones), Nov. 21, 1731, and bap'd, according to the
church records, on the 14th of the same month. He
married Feb. 3, 1757, Hannah Sturgis. He had no
children. Before leaving for Cape Breton he made
his will, dated May 24, 1758 ; but it was not proved
till July 16, 1761. He styles himself a merchant, and
says he is bound on a dangerous enterprise. He gave
his whole estate to his wife. He died suddenly at
Martha's Vineyard, May 22, 1761. He was then a
captain in the provincial army, and was recruiting men
for the service, in which he had been employed several
years. He was 29 years of age. The inventory of
his estate amounted to £122.9, including a small stock
of merchandize. His widow died June 13, 1798,
aged 62.
IX. Eunice, born Feb. 16, 1732-3, bap'd on the 25th of the
same month; married June 19, 1754, Capt. John Gal-
lison of Marblehead. Her grandson, John, was a dis-
tinguised Counsellor at Law.
X. Eichard, born Nov. 1, 1739, bap'd 18th of same month.
He was a physician, and though he usually laid his sad-
dle bags and spurs on his table every night, so that he
could promptly respond to a call, he rarely had a patient.
He was a very different raiin from his brothers. He in-
herited none of the energy of character and good busi-
ness habits of his ancestors. He was a man of feeble in-
tellectual power, — simple-minded and incapable of mak-
ing much exertion. He was a well educated man, and it
has been remarked of him by persons well qualified to
judge, that he had a good knowledge of the theory and
practice of medicine ; but being wanting in judgment,
his learning was of no practical advantage to him. He
was very courteous and gentlemanly in his habits, and
one of the most accommodatina: and obliging of men.
He was the first Postmaster in Barnstable, an office which
he held many years, and the Barnstable Social Library
was kept at his house. For many years he was i.he only
Postmaster, and his house was a place of frequent resort.
At first, there was only a weekly mail ; afterwards a
semi-weekly, and in 1812 a tri-weekly — only two how-
. ever were paid for by the Post Office Department ; the
122 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
third was paid by private siihscriptions. The mail left
Boston about four o'clock in the morning, and was due
in Barnstable at eight in the evening. During the war
the people were anxious to obtain the news, and the men
of the neighborhood, and messengers from distant parts
of the town, assembled at the post-office on the evening
of the days when a mail was due. It was also a favorite
resort for boys who were very troublesome to the doctor.
On winter evenings when the mail was delayed by the bad
condition ot the roads, or a storm, a large company as-
sembled in the doctor's parlor. The men were usually
seated in a semi-circle around the fire, and the boys were
seated on the floor with their feet pushed between the
rundles of the chairs to obtain some warmth from the fire.
The doctor had a few stereotype stories which he re-
peated every evening, the scenes whereof were laid in
Maine, where he resided some time when a young man.
His wife was a very intelligent woman, and their only
child, Abigail, was a kind-hearted and accomplished
lady, extremely courteous and obliging to all who called
at the office, or to obtain books from the Social Library,
of which she took the charge. After the death of her
parents she married her relative, Nathan Stone, Esq., of
Dennis.
Doctor Bourne was temperate in his habits ; that is
he never was intoxicated at his own expense. During
his time, there were few who could say as much in their
own vindication. It was fashionable at that time for the
men to assemble fi'equently at the taverns, where they
often remained till late, drinking, carousing, and some-
times to gamble. The doctor was sometimes invited to
these parties. He sung the same song "Old King Cole,"
on all festive occasions. After two or three drams, he
would sinffhis song, which would cause infinite diversion
to the company. Liquor deprived the doctor of the little
wit he ordinarily had, and his grotesque acts and uncouth
expressions rendered him a boon companion. The story
of one of these adventures was often told by the late
Abner Davis, Esq., who probably added some embellish-
ments of his own, for there were few men who could tell
a story better than- he.
About the year 1810, Doctor Bourne was invited to
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 123
attend a Christmas party at Hyannis. He rode his gray
mare, which did him excellent service for twenty years,
and arrived at the place appointed soon after sunset.
There was an abundance of liquor oh the table, and the
doctor was frequently pressed to partake thereof. The
company had a jolly time, the doctor repeatedly sung
his favorite song, and told the story of his adventures in
Maine. It was twelve o'clock when the party separated,
and the doctor had to be helped on to his horse. It was
a clear, moonlight evening, the ground was covered with
snow and a north-west wind rendered the air cold and
piercing. He had to pass four miles through woods,
and along a narrow road on which no inhabitants resided.
The horse knew the way better than the master, and if
the animal could have had its own way the rider would
have escaped the perils he soon after encountered. Rid-
ing about a mile he left the direct road and turned into
the way that leads to Half-Way Pond. He had not
travelled far before he caught sight of a rotten stump
which reflected a phosphorescent light. The doctor
imagined it was a fire, and as his feet were very cold, he
dismounted, pulled ofi" his boots and placed his feet on
the stump. When sufficiently warm, he remounted ;
but unfortunately omitted to put on his boots. He wan-
dered about the woods till morning, when he found his
way out. On arriving at the main i-oad, instead of turn-
ing westerly towards his own house, he turned in an
opposite direction, and urged his beast into a gallop. He
had not rode far, when he met Abner Davis, Esq., and
several gentlemen of his acquaintance. He suddenly
reined up his horse, and accosted them thus : "Gentle-
men," said he, "can you tell me whether I am in this
town or the next?" Mr. Davis replied, "You are in
this town now, but if you drive on you will soon be in
the next." The company perceiving that he had no
boots, and that he was wild and excited, invited him to
a house where he was furnished with a warm breakfast
and a pair of boots. After resting a few hours he rode
home ; but it was several days before he entirely recov-
ered from the excitement and fatigue of his Christmas
frolic.
Often when waiting for the mails in the doctor's parlor
124 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
there would be a knock at the door of the office. The
doctor would open the door, and with his usual suavity
of manner, would say, '-Good evening, sir." The reply
would sometimes be, "Doctor, I just cklled to inquire
whether or not you have found your boots ? " At other
times the inquiry would be, "Am I in this town or the
next?" These inquiries irritated the doctor, and he
would grasp his whip, which he kept hanging by the
door, and make a dash at the boys, who always took the
precaution to be beyond the reach of the lash.
AN EKROR CORRECTED.
"A few years before his death, Matthew Cobb, Esq.,
succeeded him in the office of Postmaster. This was a great
grief to him, and was regretted by many. However simple
or foolish the doctor may have been, he was a very accom-
modating officer, and took much pains to ascertain the^resi-
dences of parties, and forward them their letters or papers.
On the settlement of his accounts, he was found to be a
defaulter for nearly a thousand dollars, which was levied on
his estate, and rendered him poor at the close of his life.
His accounts were not carefully kept, and several who ex-
amined them were of the opinion that he was not a defaulter ;
that he had neglected to take vouchers for several sums
of money he paid over, and he was therefore unable to
prove that he had faithfully accounted for the receipts of his
office."
When writing the above paragraph, I had the impres-
sion in my mind that subsequently it was ascertained that
the errors were committed at the Post Office Department,
and not by the doctor ; but those of whom I inquired had a
different impression. No one of whom I inquired seemed to
know certainly. I am now happy in being able to state that
Doctor Bourne was not a defaulter. Asa Young, Esq., who
was his agent, informs me that Doctor Bourne's property had
been set off by execution, sold, and the proceeds paid over
to the Department, when it was ascertained that the error
occurred at the Post Office Department. The money was re-
funded, and the draft for the same was received by Miss
Abigail Bourne, the sole heir, on the very day she was mar-
ried to Nathan Stone, Esq. — a most happy coincidence.
According to the doctor's accounts, kept by his daugh-
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE EAklLIES. 125
ter Abigail, he owed the Department thirty dollars when his
tiiiccessor was appointed. This sum was laid aside to be
paid over when called for. Subsequent investigation proved
that Doctor Bourne's accounts were right. His property
was wrongfully taken from him, and he did not live till it
was rectitied.
Justice to Doctor Richard Bourne as an honest and
honorable man, requires this correction to be made, and
those who preserve tiles of my papers are requested to note
this fact in the margin of No. 28, that the money was subse-
quently refunded by the Post Office Department.
He died in Barnstable April 25, 1826, aged 86 years.
His wife died in Barnstable March 5, 1826, aged 85 years.
I. Capt. Richard Bourne, a son of Melatiah, born Aug.
13, 1695, was an officer in the army, and distinguished
himself at Norridgwalk. He settled in Falmouth, whei'e
he died in 1738, leaving no issue.
II. John Bourne, son of Melatiah, born March 10, 1698,
married March 16, 1722, Mercy, daughter of Joseph
Hinckley of Barnstable. He removed to Falmouth and
had Joseph, John, David, Thomas, Sarah, Mary, Eliza-
beth and Mary. All the sons, excepting Thomas, mar-
ried and had families. Mr. John Bourne, the father of
this family, died early in life, leaving a good estate.
III. Shearjashub, son of Melatiah, born Dec. 21, 1699. He
received his degrees at Harvard College in 1720, and
was ordained pastor of the First Church in Scituate,
Dec. 3, 1724. He married 1725, Abigail, daughter of
Rev. Roland Cotten of Sandwich, and had Elizabeth,
1726 ; Abigail, 1727 ; Desire, 1728 ; Bathsheba, 1730 ;
Shearjashub in 1732, who died young. His first wife
died in 1732, and he married in 1738, Sarah Brooks of
Medford, by whom he had one son, Shearjashub, born
in 1739. His second wife died in 1742, and he married
in 1750, Deborah Barker, by whom he had one son,
Roland, born the same year. His third wife died in
1750, and he married in 1757, Joanna Stevens of Rox-
bury.
He was a man of feeble constitution, and depressed
and melancholy spirits. In 1755, his health was
impaired by a paralytic affection. He tendered his
resignation of the pastoral office, and Aug. 6, 1761,
126 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
was dismissed ; his society generously presenting him
with £100, and the use of the parsonage for a year and
a half. From Scituate he removed to Roxbury, the
native place of his wife, where he died Aug 14, 1768,
in the 69th year of his age. — [See Deane's Scituate,
pages 186 and 187.]
BURSLEY.
, JOHN BURSLEY.
Mr. John Bursley, the ancestor of the families of this
name, came over very early, probably before Gov. Endicot.
From what part of England he came, 1 have not ascertained.
There is a parish in England called "Burslem," and as sur-
names often originated in the names of places or trades, it is
probable that some of his ancestors resided in that parish.*
The name is variously written on the old records, — Burs-
lem, Burslin, Burslyn, Burseley, Bursly. When first
named, he is styled Mr. — a title of respect in early times.
He appears to have been an active business man, engaged
in the fisheries, and in trade with the Indians, and a planter.
He may have been a member of the Dorchester Com-
pany, that settled at Cape Ann in 1624. In 1629, he was
at Wessaguscus, now Weymouth, where he was an associate
of Mr. William Jeff^rey. The following assessment levied to
defray the expenses of the arrest and sending of Merton to
England in 1628, proves that he was a resident in the coun-
try prior to 1629. This is the oldest tax bill on record, and
shows the comparative wealth or ability of the difi'erent
settlements in 1629 :
* Sur-names were often suggested by the appearance, character or
history of the individual. Burse is a purse ; hence the name of Bursely
may have originated thus — "Jolin the Burser," or treasurer, and in
course of time contracted to "John Bursley." The importance of sign-
ing all legal and other instruments with the Christian name
written at full length is not well understood. The "Christian" name is
the "signatui-e." It is not, however, so important now as formerly, that
It should be written at full length. Legally, the man who writes only
the initial letter of his Christian name, only "makes his mark;" he does
not "sign" the document.
128 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Plymouth, . - - - £2.10
Naumkeak, (Salem,) - - - - - - 1.10.
Piscataquack, (Portsmouth,) - - - 2.10
Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Burslem, Wessaguscus, (Wey-
mouth,) 2.00
Nantascot, (Hull,) - 1.10
Mrs. Thompson, (Squantum Neck,) - - - 15
Mr. Blackstone, (Boston,) - - 12
Edward Hilton, (Dover,) - - - - - 1.00
£12.7
Mr. Savage says that Mr. Bursley was an early settler
at Weymouth ; reckoned some three or four years among
"old planters." That he was early of Weymouth, is evident
from the record of the proceedings May 14, 1634, in relation
to his servant Thomas Lane. Lane "having fallen lame and
impotent, became chargeable to the town of Dorchester, his
then place of residence. The General Court investigated
the questions at issue, and ordered that the inhabitants of
Wessaguscus should pay all the charges of his support."
From this it appears that Lane had previously to 1634, re-
sided a sufGcient length of time at Wessaguscus, as the ser-
vant of Mr. John Bursley, to make the inhabitants of that
place legally chargeable for his support.
Mr. Palfrey, in his history of New England, says the
cottages of Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Burslem probably stood at
Winnisimmet, now Chelsea. The foregoing abstracts from
the records show that he was mistaken in his supposition.
It also appears that John Bursley was one of the assessors
of Dorchester, June 2, 1634.
From 1630 to 1635, Wessaguscus appears to have been
included within the corporate limits of Dorchester. Oct.
19, 1630, Mr. Bursley and Mr. Jeffrey requested to be ad-
mitted freemen of Massachusetts, and were sworn in the
18th of May following. They were then called Dorchester
men, though residents at Wessaguscus, which was incor-
porated in 1635, and named Weymouth.
Mr. Bursley was deputy from Weymouth to the JMassa-
chusetts Greueral Court, May, 1636, and was appointed a
member of the Committee to take the valuation of the estates
in the Colony. He and two others were elected to the
September term of the Court; but it was decided that
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 129
Weymouth, being a small town, was not entitled to send
three deputies, and he and John Upham were dismissed.
In Nov. 1637, he was appointed hy the Court a member of
a committee to measure and run out a three mile boundary
line. In May, 1639, he removed to Barnstable, in company
with Mr. Thomas Dimmock of Scituate, and Mr. Joseph
Hull of Weymouth, to whom the lands in Barnstable had
been granted by the Plymouth Colony Court. In 1643 and
1645 he was at Exeter; in 1647 at Hampton and Kittery ; •
Sept. 9, 1650, at Neweechwannook ; and at Kittery fronp
1650 to Nov. 1652. Excepting at Kittery, he did not reside
long at either of these places, — he visited them and the Isles
of Shoals, when his father-in-law was settled in the ministry,
and other places on the coast, for the purposes of trade, his
family residing at Barnstable. In 1645, he is called of
Exeter, yet he was that year chosen constable of Barnsta-
ble, sworn at the June Court, and served in that office. In
1(547, he is called of Kittery, yet he was that year one of
the grand jurors from the town of Barnstable. These facts
show that his residence in the eastern country was not per-
manent.
In 1652, the General Court of Massachusetts appointed
a commission to assume jurisdiction over the township of
Kittery, and require the inhabitants to submit to the gov-
ernment of that Colony. A meeting of the inhabitants was
called on the 15th of Nov., and while the matter was under
consideration, "complaints were made against one Jno.
Bursly* for uttering threatening words against the Commis-
sioners, and such as should submit to the government of
Massachusetts." "The said Bursly uppon his examination
at length in open Court, did confess the words, and uppon
* "One Jno. Bursly." Mr. Bursley was well-known to the Commis-
sioners, for some of them had been his associates in the General Court
of Massachusetts. The right of that Colony to assume the jurisdiction
claimed, to say the least of the matter, was doubtful. The Bursleys of
the present day are firm and unwavering in the support of their opinioi^
and never yield a point that is just and for their interest to maintain. —
Their ancestor it is to be presumed was as Arm and unyielding as any of
his descendants, and would not be overawed by the Commissioners. —
They say in their return — "Bursly submitted." He resisted their au-
thority and refused to sign the articles of submission which were signed
by forty-one of the inhabitants. Their own record shows that he fear-
lessly exercised his right as a freeman, and the Commissioners vented
their spleen by contemptuously calling him "one Jno. Bursly."
130 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
his submission was discharged." After much debate forty-
one of the inhabitants submitted ; but Mr. Bursly was not
of the number. He returned to Barnstable, and it does not
appear that he afterwards visited the eastern country.
Mr. John Bursley married Nov. 28, 1639, Joanna,
daughter of Eev. Joseph Hull of Barnstable. The marriage
was solemnized in Sandwich, no one in Barnstable being
then authorized to officiate. He resided in the house of his
father-in-law, which stood near where Capt. Thomas Harris'
now stands, till about the year 1650, when he removed to
the Bursley farm at. West Barnstable. His first house was
built on the north side of the County Koad across the little
run of water, and about one hundred yards north easterly
from the barn of the present Mr. Charles H. Bursley. The
remains of the old chimney and the ancient hearthstone were
removed not many years ago. An incident in his personal
history which occurred during his residence at the old house
has been preserved by tradition. The low land in front or
south of the house was then a quag-mire. One day when
he was confined to the house with a broken leg, and when
all the male members of the family were absent, a calf sunk
in the quag-mire, and would have been lost without assist-
ance. The women were alarmed, being unable to extricate
the calf. Mr. Bursley directed them to fasten a rope around
it, and pass the end into the house. They did so, and with
his aid, the calf was drawn out and saved.
The ancient Bursley mansion was taken down in 1827.
The John Bursley, then living, born in 1741, said it was
one hundred and thirty years old, according to the best in-
formation he could obtain. This would give the year 1697,
as the date at which it was built. He had no record of the
time ; he knew its age only from tradition, and was mis-
taken. A house was standing on the same spot in 1686,
when the County Road was laid out, and was then occupied
by the Wid. Joanna Davis, who had previously been the
wife of the first John Bursley. The description given of
the house at the time of the death of the second John Burs-
ley in 1726, corresponds very nearly with its appearance in
1827, showing that few alterations had been made. The
style was that of the wealthy among the first settlers. The
Bacon house, which has been described, was built in 1642.
The style of the Bursley house was the same, only it was
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 131
originally a larger and better building. As late as 1690,
dwelling bouses were built in a very similar style, and tbere
was a general resemblance. Both had heavy cornices, the
front roof was shorter and sharper than the rear. The more
ancient houses were lower in thg walls, especially the cham-
bers, and the sleepers of the lower floors were laid on the
ground, leaving the large sills used in those days, projecting
into the rooms.
The style of the old Bursley house indicated its early
origin, and there seems to be no good reason to doubt that
it was built by the first John Bursley, before the year 1660.
If it was a matter of any importance, it could be shown by
other facts that the house was built before 1660. I have
pursued the inquiry thus far mainly to show how uncertain
and unreliable is tradition, especially in regard to time.
The Bursley farm at West l^arnstable is thus described
on the town records :
Forty-five acres of upland, more or less, bounded partly
by two rivers that run into Boat Cove, and partly by the
Commons, as it is marked out.
Feb. 1655. Eighty acres of upland, more or less,
bounded easterly by Boat Cove, westerly by a runlet, ad-
joining Goodman Fitz Eandle's, southerly partly by Mr.
Linnell's and partly by ye Commons, northerly to the
marsh.
Fifteen acres of marsh, more or less, bounded eastei'ly
by Boat Cove, westerly by Goodman Fitz Handle's, north-
erly to a creek, southerly to his upland.
The eighty acres on the north side of the road, is
bounded on three sides by water ; a very desirable location
because the water courses saved much labor and expense in
building fences. The soil is generally a strong loam, free
of rocks, and good grass land. From the first it has been
carefully cultivated, and is now one of the most fertile and
productive farms in Barnstable. Forty acres of the upland
on the north side of the road are now owned by a lineal de-
scendant, Mr. Charles H. Bursley, and thirty by Frederick
Parker, Esq.
The first John Bursley died in 1660. The inventory of
his estate, taken Aug. 21, of that year by John Smith and
John Chipman, amounted to only £115.5. I do not know
whether this sum covered both the real and personal estate.
132 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
but presume it did. I copy from the Genealogical Register,
in which only the gross is given. The same estate was ap-
praised at £137.13.10 in 1726. 1 have called Mr. Bursley
wealthy. Wealth is a comparative term, and when a man
is called rich, a great variety of circumstances are taken into
account. \\ hat was the cash value of Mr. Bursley's farm
at the time of his death, has little to do with the question.
Eight years after, the Blush farm, now Bodfish's, the next
west, excepting one, sold for £5.10. This Avas worth about
one-third of the Bursley farm, exclusive of buildings. A
common one-story house at that time cost only about £5.
That was the price paid William Chase for building the first
liallett house in Yarmouth. Very little glass, lime, iron
or brick, was used in those days, and the expense of lumber
was the cost of cutting and sawing it. They were very
rudely constructed, and as late as 1700, it was not common
for the walls of a house to be plastered. The joints between
the boards were filled with clay or mortar. The meeting
house built in 1725, in the East Parish, was constructed in
that manner. A house like the ancient Bursley mansion
would not, when that was built, have cost more than £50
sterling. Very little money was in circulation in those
times, and as a consequence prices ruled very low. It is
said on good authority, and there can be no doubt of its
truth, that in the year 1675, five hundred pounds in money
could not be raised in Plymouth Colony; and, for a good
reason, there was not so much money in the Colony.
In 1669, the Otis farm, about half a mile east of the
Bursley, was bought for £150. The latter was then much
more valuable. It was easier land to till, and was in a
better state of cultivaticm. The Bourman farm, not so val-
uable as the Bursley farm, sold in 1662 for £78. There is
apparently a wide difl"erence in these prices of property of
the same description, in the same neighborhood at about the
same time. But it must be remembered that the value of
.landed estate depended then very much on the value of the
improvements thereon, and on the kind of pay for which the
property was sold. The usual consideration being provis-
ions at "prices current with the merchants." Very few
contracts were made payable in silver money.
The names of the children of the first John Bursley
are not entered on the town or probate records. At the
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 133
time of his marriage, Nov. 28, 1639, he waw probably forty
years of age, and the bride. Miss Joanna Hull, a blushing
maid not out of her teens. Their children, as entered on
the church records, are as follows :
I. A child — name not recorded — died suddenly in the
night, and was buried Jan'y 25, 1640-1, at the lower
side of the Calves Pasture.
II. Mary, bap'd July 29, 1643, married April 25, 1663,
John Crocker. She was his second wife, and was the
mother often children.
III. John, bap'd Sept. 22, 1644, buried Sept. 27, 1644.
IV. Joanna, bap'd March 1, 1645-6, married Dea. Shubael
Dimmock, April, 1662 ; had a family of nine children
born in Barnstable. She died in Mansiield, Conn.,
May 8, 1727, aged 83 years.
V. Elizabeth, bap'd March 25, 1649, married, first,
Nathaniel Goodspeed, Nov. 1666, by whom she had a
daughter Mary, who married Ensign John Hinckley.
She married, second. Increase Clap, Oct. 1675, and
by him had four children born in Barnstable.
VI. John, bap'd April 11, 1652, married, first, Elizabeth
Howland, Dec. 1673, and second, Elizabeth .
VII. Temperance, who married Joseph Crocker, Dec. 1677,
and had seven children born in Barnstable, and was
living in 1741.
Mr. John Bursley died in 1660, and his widow married
Dolar Davis, who died in 1673. The widow Joanna Davis
was living in 1686. The date of her death I am unable to
ascertain .
John Bursley, 2d, only son of John, was eight years of
age when his father died. He inherited the mansion house
taken down in 1827, and two-sixths of his father's estate.
The right of his sisters it appears that he bought, for at his
death in 1726, he owned all the lands that were his father's.
He married twice ; first, Elizabeth, daughter of Lieutenant
John Howland, Dec. 1673, who was the mother of his ten
children. His second wife was also named Elizabeth ; but
her maiden name does not appear on recoi'd.
He was a farmer, industrious and enterprising, and died
leaving a large estate. The old mansion house he bequeathed
to his son Joseph.
134 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Children of John Bursley, 2d, born in Barnstable :
I. Elizabeth, born Oct. 1674; died Oct. 1675.
II. Mercy, born Oct. 1675 ; died April 1676.
III. John, born March, 1677-8. He married Mary Crocker,
daughter of John, and was living in the year 1741,
Feb. 11, 1702, and had three children. Two died in
infancy, and the other. Experience, married Benjamin
Lothrop. He inherited the southwesterly part of the
old farm on which he resided. He was captain of a
vessel employed in the whale fishery, and died in
Barnstable, 1748.
IV. Mary, born, 23d May, 1679, married Joseph Smith,
after the year 1722.
V. Jabez, born 21st Aug. 1681. His father in his will
gave him the northwest quarter of his farm, since
known as Doctor Whitman's farm, and now owned by
Frederick Parker, Esq. He married Hannah ,
1705, and had Benjamin, 21st July, 1706, married
Joanna Cannons, July 7, 1735 ; second, Mary Good-
speed, Feb. 2, 1744, and had Jabez, 26th July, 1745;
Martha, 25th Aug. 1740; Elizabeth, 23d Dec. 1744;
Sarah, 3d Feb. 1748 ; Benjamin, 27th March, 1752,
and Lemuel, 17th June, 1755 ; John, born 1st Sept.
1708, married Eliz. Saunders, 1743 ; Elizabeth, born
1st Feb. 1710-11; Abigail, 25th Feb. 1714, married
Benoni Crocker, Feb. 19, 1736; Hannah, Nov. 1715,
married Solomon Bodfish, Dec. 17, 1741 ; Joanna born
June, 1719, married Charles Connett, 1733; Mary,
Aug. 1723, and Barnabas, 16th Jan'y 1725, married
Thankful Smith, May 16, 1754, and had Hannah, Fel).
3, 1756 ; Thankful, March 29, 1759, and Barnabas,
April 24, 1761. Jabez Bursley died in 1732, and
names in his will all his eight children. Estate,
£1.281.12.6.
VI. Joanna, born 29th Nov. 1684, married March, 1708-9,
Nathan Crocker of Barnstable.
VII. Joseph, born 29th Jan'y 1686-7, married Sarah
Crocker, Nov. 7, 1712, and had Joseph, who married
Dec. 20, 1739, Bethia Fuller, and had John, Nov. 1,
1741, grandfather of the present Mr. Charles H.
Bursley; Bethia, born March 2, 1743: Lemuel,
March 2, 1745, father of the present Mr. Joseph
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE EAMILIES. 135
Bursley of Barnstable ; Sarah, born Oct. 24, 1748 ;
Abigail, Oct. 23, 1750, and Joseph, 27th March,
1757.
Joseph Bursley, Sen'r., also had Lemuel, §th Sept.
1718, and Mercy, 10th July, 1721, married May 22,
1757, John Goodspeed.
VIII. Abigail, born 27th Aug. 1690, married Nath'l Bod-
fish, March 10, 1713.
IX. Elizabeth, born 5th Aug. 1692, married Nov. 28,
1723, Jon. Crocker.
X. Temperance, born 3d Jan'y 1695. She was of feeble
health, and died unmarried Sept. 20, 1734.
John Bursley, 2d, bequeathed to his son Joseph the
ancient house then appraised, with the house lot, at £240,
and all the easterly half of the estate. John Bursley, 2d,
owned at his death in 1726, the same real estate that;his
father did in 1660, with the addition of shares in the com-
mons, to which his father was also entitled. The estate was
appraised at £115.5 in 1660, and in 1727, £3.l37.13'.lO.
Presuming that each had the same proportional amount of
personal estate, these appraisals shovv a rapid appreciation
of value during the 68 years. After allowing for the depre-
ciation of the currency, £115.5 in 1660, if the appraisal was
in sterling money, would be about 520 ounces of silver, and
if in lawful money 384 ounces. In 1727, an ounce of silver
was worth 17 shillings, and £3.137.13.10, was equal to
3.486 ounces of silver.
BERRY.
RICHARD BERRY.
In the list of those who were able to bear arms in
Barnstable, in 1643, is the name of Eichard Berry. It is
not slanderous to say the son is a better man than the father,
or that the daughter is a better woman than the mother.
This remark applies to Eichard Berry and his wife Alice.
They did not sustain good characters, but their children
followed not in their footsteps. He did not reside long in
Barnstable. He probably removed to Boston in 1647, and
thence to Yarmouth where his large family of children were
born.
Oct. 29, 1649, Berry accused Teague Jones of Yar-
mouth, of the crime of sodomy, and Jones was put under
heavy bonds for his appearance at the March term of the
Court to answer. At that Court Berry confessed that he
had borne false witness against Jones, and for his perjury
was whipped at the post in Plymouth.
His wife Alice was a thievish woman, and husband and
wife were well matched. May 3, 1653, she was presented
for stealing a neckcloth from the wife of William Pierce of
Yarmouth ; at the June Court for stealing bacon and eggs
from Mr. Samuel Arnold; at the March Court, 1654-5, for
stealing from the house of Benjamin Hammond a woman's
shift and a piece of pork, and at the following Court in
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 137
June for thievishly milking the cow of Thomas Phelps* of
Yarmouth. For the latter olfence she was fined ten shillings,
"or, refusing to pay, then to sit in the stocks at Yarmouth
an hour the next training day." This is a sufficient specimen
of her character, and it is unnecessary to trace it farther.
It would, however, be unjust to the wife to say nothing
more respecting the husband. Richard, notwithstanding his
humiliating confession that he had sworn falsely, and his
visit to the whipping-post, continued to live on excellent
terms with his friend Teague at Doctor's Weir, near the
mouth of Bass Eiver. The Court, however, thought differ-
entl3\ and caused them "to part their uncivil living togeth-
er." In March, 1663, he was fined forty shillings for playing
cards ; but at the March Court following, the fine was re-
mitted. In 1668, Zachary Rider, the first born of the
English in Yarmouth, complained that Berry had stolen his
axe, and the matter was referred "to Mr. Hinckley and Mr.
Bacon to end it at home." Richard, notwithstanding his
vicious propensities, went to meeting on the Sabbath days
carrying with him his pipe and tinder-horn. One Sabbath,
during "the time of exercise," he and others, instead of
listening to tfee exhortations of the preacher, seated them-
selves "at the end of Yarmouth Meeting House," and
indulged in smoking tobacco. For this ofi"ence he and his
companions were each mulcted in a fine of five shillings, at
the March Court in 1669.
Richard Berry died Sept. 7, 1681, having at the time
of his death a house therein , though he had in early times
been forbidden to erect a cottage in Yarmouth. In his old
age he lived a better life, was admitted a townsman of Yar-
mouth, and his wife became respectable. They were very
poor, and having a large family, it was very difficult for them
to provide the necessaries of life. They thought it less
criminal to steal than to starve. Necessity may palliate dis-
*This name should perhaps be Thomas Philips, who was an early
settler in Yarmouth. He is not named by Mr. Savage, and I have been
unable to find much respecting him. His wife's name was Agnesse or
Annis. In 1665, he was find ten shillings for lying. A woman supposed
to be his daughter, was found dead in the wreck of a boat at Duxburj',
Dec. 6, 1673. He died in 1674, leaving an estate appraised at £61.0.3. a
widow and eight children then surviving. In 1678, Hugh Stewart, the
administrator, had liberty to sell the house and land belonging to the
estate of Thomas Philips, deceased, and it wovild appear from the mode
of expression employed, that the family had then removed.
138 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
honest acts, but it cannot justify. Anotlier consideration
may be named ; as soon as their children were able to con-
tribute something by their labors for the support of the
family, no more is heard of the thievish prope-isities of hus-
band or wife.
He had eleven children born in Yarmouth, but the
record is imperfect, most of the names being torn off and
lost. The dates remain. John, born 29th March, 1652':
one, 11th July, 1654 ; Elizabeth, 5th March, 1656 ; one,
12th May, 1659; one, 23d Aug. 1662; one, IBth Oct.
1663 ; one, 5th Oct. 1668 ; one, 1st June, 1670 ; one, 31st
Oct. 1673, one, 12th Dec. 1677, and one other. It is prob-
able that five of the above died before July, 1676. I judge
so from a mutilated record under the entry of the births.
He certainly had sons John, Richard, Samuel, Nathaniel,
who died Feb. 7, 1793-4, and Joseph, who died in 1686,
and a daughter Elizabeth, who married Josiah Jones, 28th
Nov. 1677.
John Berry was a resident of Yarmouth ; he was a
soldier in King Philip's war, and died in 1745, aged 93.
In his will he names his children Judah, Ebenezer,
Elizabeth, who married Samuel Baker, July 30, 1702 ;
Experience, who married Bangs, and Mary, who
married Isaac Chase, July 23, 1706.
Samuel Berry, son of Kichard, married Elizabeth,
daughter of John Bell, and had six children born in Yar-
mouth, viz : A daughter, born Jan'y 19, 1682; Elizabeth,
Dec. 21, 1684; Patience, June 22, 1687; John, July 9,
1689; Samuel, Nov. 1691, and Desire, June 29, 1694.
The father died Feb. 21, 1703-4.
Note. — A friend for whose opiuioii I iiave a high respect, reproves me
for speaking so plainlj^ of the faults of those whose biography I write.
In the common intercourse of life, [ admit that it is a good rule to saj-
nothing, when you cannot speak well of a man. Such a rule does not
apply to the writer of history. Shall all that is said in the Bible respect-
ing Judas Iscariot and other vile persons be stricken out? Shall the
name of Nero and of Benedict Arnold cease to appear in history? Shall
the name of Judge JeftVies be hereafter chronicled among the saints? —
What if a man's blood "has crept through scoundrels ever since the
flood," is he to blame? Is it not meritorious in him to have controlled a
constitutional predisposition to do wrong? I know prudes will condemn,
and the very discreet object, yet their objecting or condemning does not
relieve the writer of history from telling the whole truth.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 139
From these two sons of Richard, John and Samuel,
)joth of whom sustained good characters and were useful
citizens, the numerous families of the name of Berry on the
Cape appear to descend. As it is not a Barnstable name I
shall not trace the family farther. Among the descendants
of Richard, are many active and successful business men,
and shipmasters, and they probably would not have suc-
ceeded any better in the world if their ancestor had been
one of the most pious and distinguished among the Pilgrim
fathers.
BOURNE.
HENRY BOURNE.
Jan'y 25th, 1634-5, Henry Bourne joined the chnrch of
Mr. Lothrop at Scituate. The suppositions of Rev. Mr.
Deane, respecting his family and relatives, appear to he
mistakes. He says, Eichard of Sandwich, was his hrother ;
l)ut 1 find no evidence that he was a relative of the pastor of
the church at Marshpee. He supposes John of Marshfield,
to be his son. John was a son of Thomas, and it does not
appear that he was connected with Henry.
He settled at first in Scituate. His wife Sarah was
dismissed from the church in Hingham to that of Scituate,
Nov. 11, 1638, and it is probable that he was married al)out
that time. He bought in 1637 or 8, the dwelling-house of
Richard Foxwell, the eleventh built in that town.
He was admitted a freeman of Plymouth Colony, Jan'y
2, 1637-8 ; on the grand jury in 1638, '41, '42, '46, '56, "58
and '61 ; deputy to the Colony Court from Barnstable in
1643 and '44, and surveyor of highways in 1655. At the
March Court, 1641, he was a witness against John Bryant
and Daniel Pryor of Barnstable, on a complaint for "drink-
ing tobacco on the highway."
He removed with Mr. Lothrop's Church to Barnstable
in 1639. His house lot was the second west from Coggin's
Pond, now called Great Pond.* His house stood on the
* Coggin's IJond was afterwards called Hinckley's Pond, now Great
Pond — a very indefinite name. Cooper's or Nine Mile Pond is also
called Great Pond. T would suggest tiiat the old name be revived. No
objection can be urged against it ; it is definite, and is the name by wliich
it was known by our ancestors.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 141
north side of the road. The ancient house linown as
"Brick John Hinckley's," taken down a few years since,
stood near the location of Bourne's house.
Henry Bourne was a large land holder. In 1654, he
owned eight acres on the north of Coggin's Pond, bounded
westerly by the marsh, northerly by the Calves Pasture and
easterly by the land of Thomas Hinckley ; and five acres of
salt meadow adjoining the same. His house lot on which
he built his hoxise contained eight acres of upland, with
three acres of marsh adjoining ; bounded on the east by the
land of the heirs of Henry Coggin, southerly by the com-
mons, west by the land of James Hamblin, and north by
the Main Creek or Harbor. The house lot extended across
the highway. The three acres was called "Bourne's Hill,"
and as it was bounded westerly by his house lot, must have
been the hill west of the house of the late Robinson Hinck-
ley. He also owned two acres in the Calves pasture
adjoining his lot at Coggin's Pond, bounded northeasterly
by the highway, called Calves Pasture Lane ; three acres on
the south side of the road, near the present railroad crossing ;
ten acres of upland in the woods on the west of Pine Hill,
and six acres of marsh at Scorton.
In May, 1659, his great lot was assigned to him, and is
thus described on the records : "Forty acres of upland more
or less, bounded northerly by ye lands of Henry Coggin's
heirs ; southerly by Dolar Davis, butting easterly by ye
Indian Pond, westerly by ye commons, with an acre of
marsh more or less adjoyning to it."
"One acre of upland at Scorton, bounded southerly by
his own marsh, westerly by John Chipman, easterly by
John Coggin's upland."
I do not find the record of the death of Henry Bourne,
or his will. He was living in 1661, but at the time of the
settlement of Mr. Jonathan Eussell in Sept. 1683, he had
deceased. An entry on the Church records, Jan'y 28,
1684-5, refers to him as "late deceased." I am, however,
inclined to the opinion that he had then been dead several
years. His widow Sarah was living in Sept. 1683 ; but
died soon after that date.
Henry Bourne had a still-born daughter born 7th May,
1641, and a daughter Dorcas, bap'd 26th Aug. 1649, but
the latter does not appear to have survived long.
142 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
It seems by an entry in the Church records, that he
made a will, and gave a legacy to the Barnstable Church.
£6.13. was paid to Mrs. Bourne before her death, and
the balance, which was to be paid by Thos. Huckins, Jr.,
and John Phinney, was remitted to Thomas Huckins,
excepting £5, which was paid to the deacons of the church.
BENJAMIN,
JOSEPH BENJAMIN.
Joseph Benjamin, son of John, of Watertown, married
10th June, 1661, Jemimah, daughter of Thomas Lumbert
of Barnstable. He settled in Yarmouth before 1670, on a
farm near the meadows, on the north of the Miller farm. —
He owned an estate in Cambridge, which he sold 30th Oct.
1686. In 1680, he exchanged his farm in Yarmouth for
that of Joseph Gorham in Barnstable, now owned by Naihan
Edson. He removed to New London, Conn., where he died
in 1704, leaving a widow, Sarah, and seven children. The
births of his children were recorded in Yarmouth, but the
record is torn and imperfect. He had Abigail ; Joseph,
1666; Hannah, Feb. 1668, not living in 1704; Mary, born
April, 1670, married John Clark, 16th Nov. 1697, who was
a schoolmaster; Mercy, born March 12th, 1674; Elizabeth,
born Jan'y 14th, 1679-80, not living in 1704; John, born
1682, and Jemimah, Sarah and Kezia named in the settle-
ment of his estate.
"The admirable, accurate and precise," record of the
sattlement of his estate, dated in 1704, says his son Joseph
was aged 30 ; John, 22 ; and Abigail, Jemima, Sarah,
Kezia, Mary and Mercy were all aged tv)enty years. Six at
one birth if the New London record is deserving of credit.
BUTLER.
ISRAEL BUTLER.
Eespecting the ancestors of Israel Butler, I have no
information. He married July 1, 1725, Elizabeth, daughter
of Thomas Blossom ; she died Jan'y 7, 1734-5, aged 29, and
he married for his second wife, Oct. 29, 1735, Mary, daugh-
ter of Daniel Parker, Bsq. She died in 1745, aged 35. —
Children of Israel Butler born in Barnstable.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Nathaniel, born April 11, 1726, 9 o'clock, P. M.
II. Benjamin, Dec. 18, 1727, sunset.
III. Elizabeth, June 6, 1720, 12 at noon.
IV. Sarah, Oct. 31, 1732, P. M.
V. James, Dec. 15, 1736, 6 at night.
VI. Hannah, May 11, 1738.
VII. Mary, Sept. 26, 1739.
VIII. Daniel, Feb. 23, 1740-1.
This was a Sandwich and Falmouth name. There was
a family of the name in Harwich. It is said that General
Butler is a descendant of the Cape family.
BATES.
JOHN BATES.
There was a John Bates in Barnstable in 1666 ; perhaps
only a temporary resident. He had a fight with William
Borden, the latter being drunk at the time, came off second
best. Bates was condemned to pay Borden twenty shillings
for abuse, and three shillings and four pence to the Court
for breach of the peace. Borden was fined five shillings for
being drunk, and three shillings and four pence for the
breach of the peace.
The present family in Barnstable are descendants of
another John Bates, who, by his wife Abigail, had eight
children born in Barnstable, viz. : Susannah, born July 15,
1739 ; Samuel, March 7, 1741-2 — died twenty-one days
after; John, Jan'y 10, 1742-3; Job, Feb. 3, 1745-6;
Mehitable, Feb. 19, 1748-9 ; Thomas, March 17, 1750-1 ;
Samuel, Sept. 27, 1754, and Seth, March 7; 1758-9.
BRYANT.
JOHN BEYANT.
John Bryant, house carpenter, was of Barnstable in
1640. He married in 1648, Mary, daughter of George
Lewis, for his first wife. He returned to Scituate and was
an active and useful man, much employed in the division of
lands, and other public business. In 1657, he married his
second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Eev. William Witherell,
and in 1664, Mary, daughter of Thomas Hiland. By his
first wife he had seven, and by his third, ten children.
CARSELY.
Two of this name were of the first settlers. William,
admitted a freeman of the Massachusetts Colony, Nov. 2,
1637, and of new Plymouth, Dec. 3, 1639. He came from
Scituate to Barnstable. He was the first constable, having
been appointed June 4, 1639, O. S., the day the town was
incorporated. He married Nov. 28, 1639, at Sandwich, a
sister of the Rev. Marmaduke Matthews of Yarmouth. It
does not appear by the record that he had any family. A
still-born child of his was buried May 7, 1641.
His house lot, containing six acres of upland more or
less, was bounded easterly by Mr. Linnell's, westerly by
Tristram Hull's, southerly by the highway, and northerly by
the marsh. He had one acre of meadow at the north end,
butting northeasterly on the harbor. He sold a part of his
house lot to Hon. Barnabas Lothrop about the year 1658.
William Casely was a man who had received a good
education, — had some knowledge of Latin, had perhaps
studied law, and was employed by the first settlers to draw
legal instruments. He was a member of Mr. Lothrop's
Church, but the date of his admission does not appear.
Thus far he has a clean record. He was a vain, self-con-
ceited, vulgar fellow. Common decency forbids stating
particulars. He was excommunicated from the Church,
Sept. 5, 1641, and among other reasons which I omit, he is
charged with being "much given to Idleness, and too much
to jearing" — "observed alsoe by some to bee somewhat
proud." The sentence of excommunication was pronounced
by Rev. Mr. Mayo. The record adds : "William Carsely
took it patiently.''
148 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
John Carsely was also one of the first settlers, and it has
been supposed that he was a brother of William. I find no
evidence that such was the fact. He came from Scituate.
He was unlearned, not a church member, and his record is
not creditable to him. March 1, 1661-2, he and his wife
Alice were presented "for fornication in unlawfully com-
panying before their marriage." John was condemned to
be whipped, and Alice to set in the stocks while the punish-
ment was inflicted ; all of which was duly performed June
7, 1642. He was fined three shillings and four pence,
March 6, 1665-6, for a breach of the public peace.
His house lot contained four acres. The southwest
corner of his lot was near "the prison," there being a nar-
row strip of common land between it and the road now
known as Jail Lane. The northwest corner of Carsely's lot
was at the southwest corner of Mr. John Lothrop's orchard
in 1703. On the north it was bounded partly by the hill
"against the highway," and partly by the swamp, the north-
east corner stake standing south of James Paine's shop. On
the east it was bounded partly by Mr. Linnell's land litid
partly by Richard Child's land, the eastern boundary being
in 1708 in the range of Wid. Abigail Sturgis' barn. On the
south it was bounded by common land, afterwards
granted partly to Mr. Linnell, and three-fourths of an acre
near the Jail to John Otis. In 1661, four acres in addition
were granted to him, bounded north by Mr. Linnell, east
by Joseph Lothrop,* south and west by the commons.
* It it erroneously stated in the account of the lots purchased by Mr.
Thomas AUyn, that Capt. Samuel Hayo bought the lot between Bev. Mr.
Mayo's and Tristram Hull's lot, of .John Casely. When I wrote that article,
I had not read the proprietor's records. The descriptions are very indefi-
nite, but a comparison of the records of lots in the vicinity of John
Casely's house lot has been made, and the description above given I
think is reliable. This tract of land containing eight acres was above
the "poly pod swamp," and extended forty rods east and west and
thirty-two rods north and south, and was bounded west by John Casely,
and east by James Naybor's land. The latter was bounded east by tlie
highway, — probably the road into the woods east of the old Sturgis tav-
ern. It would seem from this investigation that the ancient road fol-
lowed the present road from the Jail to Capt. Wilson's house, then turn-
ing to the south to the head of Capt. Joseph Lothrop's land, then followed
the south edge of the swamp and joined the present road, near the house
of the late Capt. .Joshua Loriiig. This view of the matter makes the rec-
ord of the laying out of the road in 1686 intelligible. On reaching Capt.
Lothrop's land, instead of turning to the southeast they turned to the
north, through his land over a private causeway across the swamp which
was narrow at that place.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 149
Twenty acres were also granted to him on the west of the
land of James Chighorn, whioh he sold 20th April, 1675, to
Joshua Lumbert for £7.
He married twice ; first, in 1642, to Alice — ' , and
second, Sarah . He died in 1693, and his widow
married Samuel Norman. There is no record of his family.
In the settlement of his estate on the probate records, his
children John, Benjamin, Sarah, who married Elisha Smith,
April 20, 1719, are named; John, Jr., removed to Yar-
mouth where he died Jan'y 13, 1705-6.
Benjamin Casely married March 4, 1713-14, Mary
Godfrey of Yarmouth.
John Casely married May 17, 1739, Dorcas Hamblin,
and had children born in Barnstable, namely :
Children born in Barnstable.
I. John, born Feb. 14, 1740.
H. Ebenezer, born Aug. 12, 1744.
HI. Mary, born May 23, 1749.
IV. Seth, born Feb. 21, 1751.
V. Isaac, born July 10, 1753.
VI. Dorcas, born July 8, 1755.
VII. Eunice, born Sept. 19, 1759.
Benjamin Casely, Jr., married Nov. 29, 1739, Huldah
Hinckley, and had children, namely :
I. Ambrose, June 19, 1741.
II. Benjamin, March 9, 1743.
III. Thomas, Feb. 14, 1745 ; lost with Capt. Magee, Dec.
27, 1778.
IV. Lemuel, Nov. 17, 1747.
V. Samuel, Dec. 3, 1749.
VI. Haanah, Dec. 2, 1750.
VII. Mehitabel, Jan'y 8, 1758.
VIII. David, March 15.
Lemuel, son of Benjamin, Jr., had a family, the last of
the name in Barnstable.
It is a fact worthy of note that of the forty-five first
comers to Barnstable, who were heads of families, proprie-
tors, and regularly admitted townsmen, prior to January 5,
1643-4, there were only four who did not sustain good moral
characters, and whose lives were not in accordance with the
religion which they professed. These four were John Crocker,
150 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
William and John Casely, and Thomas Shaw, neither of
whom have any male descendants in the town or county of
Barnstable. John Crocker's crime was committed before he
came to Barnstable, and strictly cannot be charged as the
act of a Barnstable man. The charges against William
Casely were not criminal, and did not subject him to any
legal punishment. Though educated, he was a vulgar man,
and though a professor of religion, he did not live a Chris-
tian life. He was weak-minded, vain, frivolous, and com-
mitted acts that gentlemen are ashamed to have laid to their
charge. The sentence of ex-communication pronounced
against him was a righteous one ; and though he continued
to reside in Barnstable, he sunk into merited ignominy. —
The crime for which John Casely was punished is not stated,
and as the laws are now administered he would not be held
liable in the manner he was two centuries ago.
The complaint against Thomas Shaw was that he went
into the house of his neighbor, John Crocker, on the Sab-
bath, and helped himself to something to eat. It was not a
justifiable act, neither was it very criminal. (See Matthew,
Chap, xii : 1 to 6.)
In these three short paragraphs I have given an abstract
of the criminal calender of a generation of men, the first set-
tlers, the ancestors of nineteen-twentieths of the present
inhabitants of Barnstable. If a parallel can be found in the
annals of any of our towns, I am not aware of it.
CHAPMAN.
ISAAC CHAPMAN.
Ralph Chapman came in the Elizabeth from London in
1635. His age is stated in the Custom House return to be
20. He was a ship carpenter of Southwalk, in Surry, near
London. He settled first in Duxbury, and there married
23d Nov. 1642, Lydia Wells, a daughter of Isaac, after-
wards of Barnstable.* His children were Mary, born 31st
Oct. 1643 ; Sarah, 15th May, 1645 : Isaac, Aug. 4, 1647 ;
Lydia, born and died 26th Nov. 1649 ; Ealph, 20th June,
1653, died next month, and Ralph again. His daughter
Mary married 14th May, 1666, William Troop of Barnsta-
ble, and Sarah married William Norcut of Yarmouth, after-
wards of Eastham. His son Ralph of Marshfield, had a son
John reputed to be 104 years of age at his death. The
elder Ralph died at Marshfield in 1671, aged 56.
Isaac Chapman, son of Ralph, settled in Barnstable.
He married Sept. 2, 1678, Rebecca, daughter of James
Leonard. His house and shop stood on the south side of
the County road on the lot formerly owned by Isaac Wells,
a short distance west of the Court House. Children born in
Barnstable.
(Jhildren born in Barnstable.
I. Lydia, 15th Dec. 1679.
II. John, 12th May, 1638.
III. Hannah, 26th Dec. 1682, died July 6, 1689.
* Mr. Savage says Lydia Wills or Willis. I read the record Wells;
but cannot at this moment give the authority for saying she was a
daughter of Isaac Wells of Barnstable. Isaac Chapman and John Miller
of Yarmouth, were heirs to the estate of Margaret, widow of Isaac
Wells. It may be that Ralph Chapman's wife was not a daughter, but
it is jji-obable.
152 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
IV. James, 5th August, 1685, married Aug. 14, 1723,
Mehitabel Sharp.
V. Abigail, 11th July, 1687.
VI. Hannah, 10th April, 1690.
VII. Isaac, 29th Dec. 1692.
VIII. Ealph, 19th Jan'y, 1695.
IX. Eebecca, 1st June, 1697.
Isaac Chapman removed to Yarmouth, now Dennis,
with his family where he has descendants. His son Isaac,
by his wife Elizabeth, had Isaac, 7th April, 1711 ; Mary,
6th June, 1713 ; Rebecca, 14th Nov. 1725, died Dec. 30,
1726 ; Samuel, 14th Nov. 1727 ; Eebecca, 25th June, 1730 ;
Ruth, 13th April, 1733 ; Micah, 18th July, 1735.
Ralph Chapman, son of Isaac, by his wife Elizabeth,
had John, born 22d , 1728-9 ; Betty, 15th Oct. 1736,
and David, 15th Nov. 1739.
NOTB.^ — ^As this" is not a Barnstable family, I have not carefully ex-
amined the Yarmouth or the Probate Records. Persons interested can
find materials for a full geneaology of the family.
CHiPMAN.
ELDER JOHN CHIPMAN.
Elder John Cliipman is probably the ancestor of all of the
name of Chip man in the United States and British Provinces. The
following statement, drawn up by himself, is printed from an an-
cient copy of the original in the possession of the family of the
late Mr. Samuel Chipman of Sandwich. An incorrect copy was
published in the Genealogical Register of 1860. The following
has been carefully collated with the manuscript, and is a true tran-
script thereof, excepting four words, which are repetitions and
erased in the manuscript. Interlineations are prirlted in italics.
A Brief Declaration in Behalf of Jno. CMpinan of Barnstable.
A Brief Declaration with humble Request (to whom these
Presents shall come) for further Inquiry & Advice in ye behalf of
John Chipman, now of Barnstable in the Government of New Pli-
mouth in New England In America, being ye only Son & Heir of
Mr. Thomas Chipman Late Deceased at Brinspittell 1 about five
miles from Dorchester in Dorsetshire in England concerning some
certain Tenement or Tenements with a Mill & other Edifice there-
unto belonging Lying & 'being in Whitchurch of Marhwood vale
near Burfort alias Breadport, in Dorsetshire aforsd hertofore
worth 40 or 50 Pounds pr Annum which were ye Lands of ye sd
Thomas Chipman being entailed to him & his Heirs for Ever but
hath for Sundry years Detained from ye sd John Chipman the
right & only Proper Heir thereunto. By reason of Some kinde of
Sale made of Inconsiderable value by the sd Thomas (In the time
of his Single Estate not then minding marriage) unto his kinsman
Mr. Christopher Derbe Living Sometime in Sturtle near Burfort
aforsd being as the Said John hath been Informed, but for 40 lb
And to be maintained Like a man with Diet Apparel &c by the
sd Christopher as Long as the sd Thomas Should Live whereat ye
Lawyer wc. made the Evidences being troubled at his Weakness
in taking Such an Inconsiderable Price tendered him to Lend him
money or to give to him ye sd Thomas Seven Hundred Pounds for
ye sd Lands. But yet the matter Issuing as Aforsd The Vote of
the Country who. had It nowledge of it was that the sd Thomas had
154 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
much wrong in it Especially After it pleased God to change his
condition, and to give him Children, being turned off by the sd
Christopher only with a poor Cottage and Garden Spott instead of
his forsd Maintainance to the great wrong of his Children Espec-
ially of his Son John Aforsd to whom ye Sd Lands by right of En-
tailment did belong Insomuch that mr William Derbe who had the
sd Lands in his Possession then from his father Christopher Derbe
told the sd John Chipman (being then a youth) that his father
Christopher had done him wrong, but if ye sd Lands prospered
with him that he would then consider the sd John to do for him in
way of recompence for the Same when he should be of capacity in
years to make use thereof. The sd John fm-ther declareth that
one mr Derbe A Lawyer of Dorchester (he supposes ye father of
that mr Derbe now Living in Dorchester) being a friend to the
mother of the sd John told her being Acquainted with ye Business
and sorry for' the Injury to her Heir, that if it pleased God he
Liv'd to be of Age he would himself upon his own charge make a
tryal for the recovery of it, and in case he recovere it Shee Should
give him 10 lb Else he would have nothing for his trouble and
charge. Furthermore John Derbe late deceased of Yarmouth in
New Plimouth -Government Aforsd hath acknowledged here to
the sd John Chipman that his father Christopher had done him
much wrong in the forsd Lands but ye sd John Chipman being but
in a poor and mean outward condition, hath hitherto been Afraid
to stir in it as thinking he should never get it from ye rich and
mighty, but being now Stirred up by some friends as Judging it
his Duty to make more Effectual Inquiry after it for his own com-
fort his wife and childrens which God hath been pleased to bestow
on him if any thing may be done therein, & in what way it may be
attained, whether without his coming over which is mostly Desired
if it may bee. Because of exposing his wife & children to Some
Straits in his Absence from them, he hath therefore, Desired these
as aforsd Desiring also Some Search may be made for farther
Light in ye case into the Records the conveyance of the Said
Lands being made as he Judgeth about threescore years Since as
Also that Enquiry be made of his Sisters which he supposeth
lived about those parts & of whom else it may be thought meet,
and Advice sent over as Aforsd, not Else at present But hoping
that there be Some Left yet in England alike Spirited with him in
29 Job whom the Ear that heareth of may bless God for Deliver-
ing ye poor that crieth and him that hath no helper Bein Eyes to
the blind feet to the Lame A father to the Poor Searching out ye
causfe which he knoweth not, &c. Barnstable as Aforsd this 8th
of Feb. (57.) John Chipman Desires his Love be presented to
his Sisters Hannor and Tamson and to hear particularly from them
if Living and doth further request that Enquiry be made of mr
Oliver Lawrence of Arpittle who was an intimate friend of his
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 155
fathers. He desires also Enquiry be made of his Sisters what
those parchment writeings concerned in the custody of his mother
when he was there.
The sd John Chipman Supposeth his age to be About thirty
seven years ; it being next may Twenty & one year Since he come
out of England.
On the 2d of March, 1641-2, Ann Hinde, the wife of William
Hoskins, deposed before Gov. Edward Winslow, relative to a
matter in controversy between John Derbey and John Chipman.
She stated that she was then about 25 years of age, that she lived
with Mr. Christopher Derbey at the time when John Chipman
came to New England to serve Mr. Richard Derbey a son of
Christopher, and a brother of John, that she afterwards came over
to serve the said Richard, and that when she left, old Mr. Derbey
requested her "to commend him to his cozen (nephew) Chipman,
and tell him if he were a good boy, he would send him over the
money that was due to him, when he saw good." She also testi-
fied that she had heard John Derbey affirm that the money had
been paid to John Chipman's mother, who died about three months
before her old master sent this message by her to his nephew
Chipman. The object of this deposition was to establish the fad
that John Derbey did not pay the money to Chipmans's mother,
because she died three months before Mr. Christopher Derbey
made the promise to send it.
John Chipman, only son of Mr. Thomas Chipman, was born
in or near Dorchester in Dorcetshire, England, about the year
1. Bi-inspittell or Brinspudel, Dorsetshire, is between Affpudel and
the river Piddle. Dorsetshire, from the mildness of the air and the
beauties of its situation has been termed the garden of England.
2. Whitchurch, west of Bridport, a seaport town, is one of the largest
parishes in the county. It has a large and ancient church in which are
some antique ornaments.
3. Marshwood, with its vale and park, four miles ST. W. of Whit-
church, was formerly a barony of great honor.
4. Burtport, or rather Hritport, called also Bridport and Britport,
Dorsetshire. A seaport borough and market town in the hundred of
Sturminster.
0. Sturhill, Bridport Division, Godbertorne Hundred, Dorcetshire.
6. Athpuddel in Dorcetshire.
All the places named are-inDorcet County or shire England, as stated
in an article in the Genealogical Register commnnteated by Rev. Richard
M. Chipman. In the same article Mr. Chipman presumes that "Hannor"
and "Tamson," the sisters of Elder John, are the names of their hus-
bands. He reads the name of Tamson, Jamson ; and supposes Thomp-
son was intended. This reading probably led to the error. Hannah
and Tamson or Thomasine, are common names, and there seems to be no
good reason to doubt that they were the Christian names of his sisters.
The Declaration is dated Feb. 8, 1657, O. S., which is Feb. 18, 1658, N. S. '
Deduct 21 years, and it gives May, 1637, as the date of his leaving
England. The date of his birth by the same rule is 1621.
'156 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAJIILIES.
1621. He had two sisters Hannah and Tamson, -who married and
remained in England. His father died early, and he i-esided with
his uncle, Mr. Christopher Derbey. In May, 1637, Mr. Richard
Derbey, a sou of Christopher, came to New England, bringing
with him his cousin John, theu sixteen years of age, and others,
in tlie capacity of servants. It was then customary to send over
orphan youths of good habits, to be bound for a term of years, to
the planters and other early settlers. Mr. Richard Derbey settled
at Plymouth, where he remained several years ; but no mention is
made of his cousin John till the spring of 1642, when he had
arrived at legal age, and when he brought an action against his
cousin, Mr. John' Derbey, for a sum of money sent to him by his
uncle Christopher, and not paid over by said John Derbey.
It is probable that during the four years that had intervened, he
had served an apprenticeship with a carpenter. This is not cer-
tain ; but it appears by his will that he was a carpenter, though in
deeds he is styled a yeoman.
In Aug. 1643, he was absent from the colony, or was sick
and unable to bear arms ; but it appears that he was afterwards a
resident of Plymouth. In 1646, he married Hope, second daugh-
ter of Mr. John Howland. In 1G49, he was of Barnstable, and
that year bought the homestead of Edward Fitzrandolphe, the
original deed whereof is in my possession. The land has since
been sub-divided many times, and is now owned by several indi-
viduals. It was bounded on the north by the County road, east
by the Hyannis road, extending across the present line of the rail-
road, and was bounded south l)y the commons, and on the west
by the homestead of George Lewis, Senr., and contained eight
acres. The deed also conveyed a garden spot and orchard on the
north side of the County road, now owned by Capt. Heman Foster.
The ancient house on this estate stood between the present dwel-
lings of the heirs of Anna Childs, deceased, and the house formerly
owned by Isaiah L. Greene, Esq. How long he resided on this
estate is not known. In 1659, it was owned and occupied by John
Davis, Senr. Probably about this time he removed to Great
Marshes. No lands are recorded as belonging to him in 1654,*
when all were requked to have their possessions entered and de-
scribed on the town books. He may have resided about that time
in another town, though he was of Barnstable in 165!). He bought
of his brother-in-law, Lieut. John Howland, one half of his farm
* Perhaps he did own lands; but neglected to have them recorded.
That he was not careful hi regard to his title docds there is evidence.
His deed from Fitzrandolphe was not executed till 1669. twenty vfurs
after the purchase, and the consideiatioii in his deed from Howl'aiid in-
'dicates that the purchase was made many years before the date of tlie
deed. Farms no better in the same vicinity were sold about that time
for four times £16.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 157
which is now owned by his descendants. The deed is dated Dec.
10, 1672, and for the consideration of £16 Mr. Howland conveys
to him one-half of his lands in Barnstable, containing forty-five
acres of upland. The deed is in the hand writing of Gov. Thom-
as Hinckley, is on parchment, and is now in the possession of the
family of Mr. Samuel Chipman of Sandwich. The lands sold
were bounded, easterly, partly by the land of John Otis and partly
by the land of William Crocker, northerly by the marsh, westerly
by the other half of the lands not sold. The boundaries are par-
ticularly described, and the range between Howland and Chipman
ran over a well or spring, giving each a privilege thereto. Mr.
Howland names his northern orchard, showing that at that early
date he had set out two. Elder Chipman owned lands at West
Barnstable before 1672, for in the same deed he makes an ex-
change of meadow with his brother-in-law. After his second mar-
riage in 1684 he removed to Sandwich. He was admitted an
inhabitant of that town in 1679, but appears to have been in Barn-
stable in 1682. His removal was deeply regretted by the people,
and many efforts were unsuccessfully made to induce him to return
to Barnstable. The church, though dissatisfied at his removal
without their consent, agreed to pay him five or six pounds annu-
ally, if he would resume his office of Elder, and the town voted
to make him a liberal grant of meadow lands if he would return.
These votes show that his services were appreciated by the mem-
bers of the church, with which he had held communion nearly
forty years, and that he was highly esteemed as a man and a
christian by his fellow townsmen and neighbors.
His connection with the Barnstable church was most happy.
His wife Hope joined the chm'ch Aug. 7, 1650, and he joined
Jan'y 30, 1652-3. "Henry Cobb and John Chipman were chosen
and ordained to be ruling Elders of this same church, and- they
were solemnly invested with office upon ye 14th day of April Anno
Dom : 1670." [Church Records.
It is probable that he was a deacon of the chm-ch before he
was elected Elder. He survived Mr. Cobb many years, and was
the last Ruling Elder of the chm-ch. Subsequently, attempts were
made to revive the office. The question was frequently discussed
at church meetings ; but a majority opposed another election.
His talents and services in civil life were duly appreciated.
In June, 1659, he and Isaac Robinson and John Smith of Barn-
stable, and John Cook of Plymouth, were appointed by the Ply-
mouth Colony Court to attend the meetings of the Quakers "to en-
deavour to reduce them from the errors of their wayes." — The re-
sult was that Robinson, whose name appears most prominent in
these proceedings, recommended the repeal of the severe laws that
had been enacted against that sect. Smith and Chipman did not
incur the censure of the Court, thousfh there is no reason to doubt
158 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
that they sympathized with Robinson in his views respecting the
impolicy of those laws.
In 1649 he was a freeman, and in 1652 he was a grand-juror,
and appointed by the Treasurer of the Colony, a committee for
the Town of Barnstable to receive 'the proportion of oil taken
which belonged to the Colony ; in 1663, '4, '5, '8 and '9 he was
representative from Barnstable to the Colony Court; in 1665, '6,
'7, and '8 he was one of the selectmen of Barnstable, who at that
time exercised, in addition to other duties, the functions since per-
taining to justices of the peace; and in 1667 he was one of the
council of war. For his public services the court in 1669 granted
him one hundred acres of land, between Taunton and Titicut,
which was afterwards confirmed to him.
His will is dated at Sandwich, Nov. 12, 1702, and was proved
May 17, 1708. In it he says : "I will and bequeath to Ruth, my
dear and loving wife, all whatsoever is left of her estate, which I
had with her when I married her. I also give her one half part of
my whole personal estate which shall be found in Sandwich at my de-
cease. Besides and moreover, all the carts plows and husbandry
implements, as also all the corn meat, flax wool, yarn and cloth
that is in the house at my decease, and I do give her twenty
pounds in money which is due to her by ye compact made between
us at our inter-marriage ; she according to sd compact, upon pay-
ment of this twenty pounds to qnitt claim to all right and title and
interest in my housing and lands att Barnstable, and this twenty
pounds shall be paid her out of that money of mine in ye baud of
my friend Mr. Jonathan Russell of Barnstable."
He bequeathes to his sons Samuel and John his whole real
estate in Barnstable, Samuel two parts and John one part, unless
my son Samuel pay his brother John £70 in lieu of his third part.
He gives his son Samuel his carpenters tools, then in his posses-
sion. To his two grand children Mary Gale and Jabez Dimmock
£5 apiece. He names his daughters, Elizabeth, Hope, Lydia,
Hannah, Ruth, Bethia, Mercy and Desu-e. He appoints his sons
Samuel and John executors, and Mr. Jonathan Russell and Mr.
Rowland Cotton overseers. Witnesses, Rowland Cotton, Samuel
Prince and Nathan Bassett. In the inventory of his estate, taken
by Wm. Bassett and Shubael Smith, it stated that he died 7 April,
1708. His real estate is not apprised. — Among the articles ap-
prised is plate at 8 sh per ounce, £8.2. ; Cash, at 8 sh per ounce,
£51.5.3. ; Bills of Credit, £6.6. ; Cash in Mr. Jonathan Russell's
hands £20. 18 books, small and great, £1.
The will of his widow Ruth is dated Dec. 7, 1710, proved
Oct. 8, 1713. As she had no children living, she gave her estate
to her relatives and friends. Of the Chipman family she names
only Bathsheba, a daughter of Mr. JNIelatiali Bourne, and .Tabez
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 159
Dimmock, both grand children of Elder Chipman. Family of El-
der John Chipman :
The births of twelve children of Elder Chipman are recorded ;
one at Plymouth and eleven in Barnstable, Elizabeth is the only
child named, older than Hope. In his will dated at Sandwich,
Nov. 12, 1702, and proved May 17, 1708, he names sons Samuel
and John, and daughters Elizabeth, Hope, Lydia, Hannah, Ruth,
Mercy, Bethia and Desire.
To his daughters, he gave half his moveable estate in
Sandwich and Barnstable, excepting the articles given to Samuel,
and he adds the following proviso : "And in case any of my said
daughters be dead before their receiving this my bequest, my will
is that their part be given and distributed equally to their surviv-
ing children." Two of the daughters, Hannah and Ruth, were
then dead, and it is probable that Bethia had also deceased.
His first wife was Hope, second daughter of John Howland
and EKzabeth Tiley. Until the discovery of Bradford's History
in 1855, in the Library of the Bishop of London, it had been sup-
posed that his first wife was a daughter of Gov. Carver. — She died in
Barnstable and was buried in the ancient burying ground on Lo-
throp's Hill. Her monument is in good preservation, and the fol-
lowing is a copy of the inscription :
Here lyeth
Inteered ye Body of
Mrs. Hope Chipman
WIFE OF Elder John Chipman
AGED 54 YEARS
WHO CHANGED THIS LIFE
FOR A BETTER
YE 8th of January
16 83.
He married for his second wife the Wid. Ruth Bourne. She
was a daughter of Mr. William Sargeant, born in Charlestown 25
Oct. 1642, married first, Jonathan, son of Josiah Win slow of
Marshfield, second, Mr. Richard Bourne of Sandwich. She died
in Sandwich in 1713, aged 71, leaving no issue. Elder John Chip-
man died in Sandwich 7 April, 1708, aged 87 years. Children of
Elder John Chipman :
I. Elizabeth, born 24 June, 1 647 at Plymouth, baptized in Barn-
stable, Aug. 18, 1650. Mrs. Hope Chipman was admitted
to the church on the 7th of Aug. 1650, and Elder John
Chipman Jan'y 30, 1652-3. Hope was baptized, according
to Puritan usage, on the Sabbath next succeeding her birth,
namely on the 5th of Sept. 1652, having been born on the
31st of the preceeding August. — Elizabeth was the second
160 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
wife of Hosea Joyce of Yarmouth. He married first Mar-
tha, and had John and Dorcas. His wife Martha died
April 3, 1670, and he married Elizabeth Chipman before
1676, and had Samuel, June 1, 1676 ; Thomas, June 3,
1678, and Mary, Sept. 19, 1680. The above is all that can
now be obtained from the Yarmouth record, which is muti-
lated and a part of the leaf gone. By his will it is ascer-
tained that he had ten children, two by his first wife Mar-
tha, and eight by his second wife Elizabeth Chipman. 1,
John, married first, Margaret, daughter of John Miller,
Feb. 5, 1701-2, and second, Esther, daughter of Jonathan
White, Nov. 7, 1707. He died in 1714, leaving two daugh-
ters. Desire and Fear. His widow married John Drake of
Yarmouth, and removed to East Greenwich, R. I., about the
year 1726 ; 2, Dorcas, married Aug. 8, 1695, Prince Howes
of Yarmouth ; 3, Samuel, died unmarried in 1741, aged 65 ;
4, Thomas, married March 19, 1719, Mary, daughter of
Jeremiah Bacon- of Barnstable. He had one son Jeremiah
a cripple, died unmarried in 1755, and five daughters noted
for their beauty. He was a man of wealth, became
melancholy, and from fear of starvation committed suicide
20 April, 1743 ; 5, Mary, married James Gorham Sept. 29,
1707, and had five children. The other children of Hosea
Joyce were Hosea, whom his father cut off in his will by
giving him his "small gun" ; Lydia who married Nov. 20,
1706, Ebenezer Howes ; Martha, who married Godfrey ;
Mehitable; and Dorothy who married Dec. 12, 1717, John
Oats, an Englishman. His descendants write their name
Otis, and reside principally in Maine. Hosea Joyce died in
Feb. 1712, and his widow Elizabeth sm-vived him. He had
a large landed estate, and in his will calls his wife "well
beloved," though he appears to have loved his money
better, for he gave her but a small portion of his estate.
"The stille-borne maide childe of John Chipman buryed
Sept. 9, 1650."— [Church Records.
II. Hope, born August 31, 1652, in Barnstable, married Aug.
10, 1670, John, son of Mr. Thomas Huckins of Barnstable,
and had Elizabeth, 1 Oct. 1671 ; Mary, 3 April, 1673 ; Ex-
perience, 4 June, 1675, and Hope, 10 May, 1677. John
Huckins 'died 10 Nov. 1678, aged 28, and she married
March 1, 1682.-3, Jonathon, son of Elder Henry Cobb of
Barnstable, born 10 April, 1660. He was twenty-two and
his wife thirty at the time of their marriage. By him she
had five children born in Barnstable. June 3, 1703, she
was dismissed from the Church in Barnstable, to the Church
in Middleboro'. From that town the family removed to
Portland, Maine. (See Cobb.)
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 161
III. Lydia, born Dec. 25, 1654. She was the third wife of
John, son of Mr. "William Sargeant of Barnstable, removed
to Maiden, where she died March 2, 1730, aged 76, leaving
no issue.
IV. John, born 2d March, 1656-7, died 29th May, 1657.
V. Hannah, born 14th Jan'y, 1658-9, married Thomas Huckins,
May 1, 1680. She died in Barnstable, 4th Nov. 1696, aged
37, leaving eight children. (See Huckins.)
VI. Samuel, born 15th April, 1661. — He had ten children. Many
of his sons were distinguished men. (See an account of his
family below.)
VII. Ruth, born 31st Dec. 1663-, married 7th April, 1682, Eleazer
Crocker of Barnstable. She died 8th April, 1698, aged 34,
leaving ten children. (See Crocker.)
VIII. Bethia, born 1st July, 1666, married, as I have noted, Shu-
bael Dimmock. The Jabez Dimmock and Mary G-ale named
in the will of Elder Chipman were probably children of
Bethia. She died early. Shubael Dimmock married 4th
May, 1699, Tabitha Lothropf or his second wife.
IX. Mercy, born 6th Feb., 1668, married Dea. Nathaniel Skiff,
removed to Chilmark where she died.
X. John, born 3d March, 1670-1. (See account of him below.)
XI. Desire, born 26th Feb., 1673-4, married Hon. Melatiah
Bourne of Sandwich, Feb. 23, 1696-6. She died March 28,
1705, aged 31. (See Bourne, where her name in one place
is erroneously printed Bethia, and in the same paragraph
"Rev." before the name of Thomas Smith should be
erased.)
Dea. Samuel Chipman, son of Elder John Chipman, born in
Barnstable, 15th April, 1661, inherited the homestead of his
father. He was a carpenter ; but farming was his principal busi-
ness. He kept a public house, and was a retailer of spirituous
liquors, a business not then held to be incompatible with the office
of Deacon of the chui'ch. He was a man of good business habits,
often employed as a town officer, and there were few in town who
stood higher than he in public estimation. He was ordained a
deacon of the church in Barnstable, Sept. 1, 1706.* He married
Dec. 27, 1686, Sarah, daughter of Elder Henry Cobb. He died
in 1723, aged 63, and his widow Sarah Jan'y 8, 1742-3, aged 79
years.
Children of Dea. Samuel Chipman born in Barnstable.
I. Thomas, born, 17th Nov., 1687. He removed to Groton,
*After this date the custom of ordaining deacons appears to have been discontinued.
The subject was discussed at several meetings of the Church, but a majority was not in fa-
vor of reviving the custom. The deacons of the East Church, organized in 1725, were not
ordained. Aug. 6, 1732, a church meeting was held to consider the propriety of reviving
the office of Ruling Elder and ordaining deacons. Aug. 21, 1734, another meeting was
held, which was not harmonious.
162 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Conn., where he remained several years, and from that town
removed to Salisbury, Conn., where he held high rank in the
town and county. He was appointed a judge in 1751 ; but
* died before he held a court. His son, Samuel, who removed
to Tinmouth, Vt., was the father of Chief Justice Nathaniel
Chipman, L. L. D., and of the late Hon. Daniel Chipman of
Vermont. (See Hinman, page 576.)
II. Samuel, born Aug. 6, 1689. He was a deacon of the Barn-
stable Church, and kept the "Chipman tavern," noted in
former times. He married Dec. 8, 1715, Abiah, (bap'd
Abigail) daughter of John Hinckley, Jr., (sou of G-ov.
Thomas.) She died July 15, 1736, and he maj-ried second,
Mrs. Mary Green of Boston, 1739. His children were, 1, a
son born Aug. 1717, died 25th Aug. following ; 2, Hannah,
born 1st July, 1719 ; 3, Samuel, born 21st November, 1721,
removed to Groton, Conn., and had descendants in that
vicinity; 4, Dea. Timothy, born 30th April, 1723, married
Elizabeth Bassett of Sandwich, Jan'y 23, 1762. He was a
deacon of the church in West Barnstable, and died Aug. 24,
1770. His children were Abigail, Dec. 9. 1752, died young ;
Samuel, May 8, 1754 ; Mary, Nov. 1, 1755 ; Abigail, again
Jan'y 31, 1758, died young; William, Feb. 4, 1760; John,
June 24, 1762 ; Timothy, May 6, 1764 ; and Elizabeth, Jan'y
27, 1767, who died young. Ebenezer, 5th child of Dea.
Samuel, born 9th of Sept., 1726, removed to Middletown,
Conn., where he has descendants. John, sixth child of
Dea. Samuel, born June 30, 1728, removed to Stratford,
Conn., and thence to Middletown. Hinman says he has
descendants residing at New Haven, Waterbury, &c. ; 7,
Mary, daughter of Dea. Samuel, born 2d May, 1731, mar-
ried March 11, 1750, Samuel Jenkins of Barnstable, and
removed to Gorham, Maine. Mr. Charles H. Bursley has
two interesting letters from her, and one from her husband
after their removal. Her children born in Barnstable were,
Josiah, Sept. 30, 1750; Deborah, Feb. 2, 1752; Abiah,
Jan'y, 27, 1754; Samuel, Nov. 23, 1755 ; Mary, Jan'y 16,
1758, and Joseph, June 6, 1760. The three sons were sol-
diers in the Revolutionary army. Joseph died April 20,
1783, near West Point, of consumption. He had been in
the army two years. The other members of the family mar-
ried and had families. Mr. Jenkins writing respecting his
grand children, says "It seems to me they are the prettiest
children that I see anywhere." Nathaniel, eighth child of
Dea. Samuel was born 31st January, 1732-3 ; Joseph, ninth
child, born 26th May, 1740, died July 4, 1740.
III. John, born 16th Feb., 1691, graduated at Harvard College,
1771, and ordained over the second church at Beverly, Dec.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 163
28, 1715. He married Feb. 12, 1718, Rebecca, daughter of
Dr. Robert Hale. He died March 23, 1775. His son John,
born Oct. 23, 1722, graduated at Harvard College 1738. He
was a lawyer and resided at Marblehead. His son Ward, a
graduate of Harvard College, 1770, was a Judge of the
Supreme Court of New Brunswick, and died president of
that province. He left an only child, the late Chief Justice
Ward Chipman, L. L. D.
IV. Abigail, born 15th Sept., 1692, she was baptised Oct. 30,
1692, by the name of Mercy. Probably her name was
changed to Abigail after her baptism. She married March
14, 1713, Nath'l Jackson.
V. Joseph, born 10th January, 1694, according to the town
record. He was baptized March 4, 1692-3, so that both
records cannot be accurate.
VI. Jacob, born 30th Aug., 1695, married 25th Oct., 1721, Abi-
gail Fuller, she died Oct. 5, 1724, and he married for his
second wife in 1725, Bethia Thomas. He had children,
Sarah, born Nov. 23, 1722, and Elizabeth, June 16, 1724,
afterwards changed to Abigail. The latter married July 8,
1742, Stephen Cobb.
VII. Seth, born 24th Feb. 1697. In 1723 he was of Plymouth ,
and called a cooper. He was afterwards of Kingston, and
is the ancestor of most of the name in Maine.
VIII. Hannah, born 24th Sept., 1699, married Dec. 25, 1713,
Barnabas Lothrop, Jr., his second wife, she died, June 11,
1763.
IX. Sarah, born 1st November, 1701. She died July 1, 1715,
aged 14 years and 8 months, and is buried near her grand-
mother in the ancient burying ground.
X. Barnabas, born 24th March, 1702. He was a deacon of the
West Church, and was an influential citizen. He has de-
scendants in Vermont, Michigan and Iowa. He married
20th Feb., 1727-8, Elizabeth Hamblen and had 1, Barnabas,
28th Dec, 1748, who married MaryBlackwell of Sandwich,
in 1721, and had Martha, Sept. 4, 1752 ; Elizabeth, Feb. 8,
1755 ; Joseph, May 14, 1758, deacon of the East Church ;
Hannah, June 6, 1760; and Barnabas, Nov. 20, 1763; 2,
Joseph, born 22d Dec. 1731 ; 3, Elizabeth, 12th May, 1734,
she married Nov. 23, 1758, Nath'l Hinckley, 2d. ; 4, Thom-
as, born 5th March, 1735-6, married Bethia Fuller of Col-
chester in 1760, and had Timothy Fuller, Feb. 1, 1761 ;
Isaac, Sept. 12, 1762, and Rebecca, Jan'y 26, 1764 ;
Hannah, 20th Feb. 1737-8.
John Chipman, son of Elder John, born in Barnstable, March
3, 1670, was a cordwainer, or shoemaker. He removed early to
Sandwich, and from thence to Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard, and
164 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
afterwards to Newport, R. I. During his residence at Martha's
Vineyard he was one of the Justices of the Court, and after his
removal to Newport, he was an assistant to the governor. Ee-
specting him I have little information ; but it is just to infer that
if a poor mechanic rises to places of honor and trust, he must be
a man of some talent and of sound judgement. He was thrice
married. First, in 1691, to Mary Skeffe, a daughter of Capt.
Stephen. She died in 1711, aged 40. Second, in 1716, to Widow
Elizabeth Russell, her third marriage. She was a daughter
of Capt. Thomas Handley,, and married first, Pope. Third
in 1725, to (Hannah ?) Hookey of R. I. His thirteen childi'en
were probably all born in Sandwich.
I. John, died young.
II. James, born 18th Dec, 1694.
III. John, born 18th Sept. 1697, married Hannah Fessenden of
Cambridge, Sept. 26, 1726.
IV. Mary, born Dec. 11, 1699.
V. Bethia, twin sister of Mary, married Samuel Smith, Oct.
6, 1717.
VI. Perez, 28th Sept., 1702, is the ancestor of the Delaware,
Carolina and Mississippi families of the name.
VII. Deborah, 6th Dec, 1704.
VIII. Stephen, 9th June, 1708.
IX. Lydia, twin sister of Stephen.
X. Ebenezer, 13th Nov., 1709. He married Mary ■ ,
resided at Falmouth where his son John was born April 10,
1733, afterwards of Barnstable, where he had Ebenezer.
XI. Handley, 31st Aug., 1717. He removed with his father to
Chilmark, thence to Providence, R. I., and in 1761 to
Cornwallis, N. S. He was a distinguished man, and his
descendants are numerous and respectable.
XII. Rebecca, 10th Nov. 1719.
XIII. Benjamin.
Few families are more widely disseminate than this. Elder
Chipman had eleven children and eighty-two grand-children, near-
ly aU of whom married and had families. The Rev. K. M.
Chipman has for several years been employed in compiling a gen-
ealogy of the family, extending to the ninth generation. — Want
of funds has prevented him from publishing. No harm will result
from the delay. It will give him an opportunity to correct some
important mistakes into which he has fallen, and from which no
genealogist can claim exemption.
The manuscript of the "Declaration" of John Chipman, from
which we copy is not, as has been supposed, an original document
in the handwriting of the Elder. It is in the hand writing of John
Otis, Esq., an elder brother of Col. James, born thirty years after
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 165
the date of the Declaration. Notwithstanding it is reliable, for
the principal facts are corroborated by the deposition of Ann
Hinde and by records in Doreetshire, England. I cannot learn
that his descendants ever obtained anything from the estate,
which was illegally conveyed by Thomas Chipman to Christopher
Derby.
Mr. Hinman says there is no evidence that John Chipman re-
ceived any benefit from the grants made to him by the Plymouth
Colony. The presumption is that he did. The others to whom
grants were made at the same time, and at the same place, re-
ceived theirs, and no legal or other diflSculty prevented Mr. Chip-
man from obtaining his right.
Chipman is an ancient name and occurs as early ag A. D.
1070, on the Doomsday Survey Book. Originally the name was
written De Chippenham, or by the armorial bearings Chippenham.
There are three places in England of this name, and whether
these places derived their names from the family, or the family
from the places is a matter of no importance. The meaning of
of the name is Chapman's town or home.
COBB.
ELDER HEISTEY COBB.
Elder Henry Cobb the ancestor of the Cobb Family of Barn-
stable, was of Plymouth in 1632, of Scituate in 1633, and of
Barnstable in 1639. According to the Eev. Mr. Lothrop's re-
cords, Goodman Cobb's dwelling house in Scituate, was con-
structed before September 1634, and was the seventh built in that
town by the English. He afterwards sold this house to Henry
Rowley, and built on his lot in Kent Street, house numbered
thirty-two on Mr. Lothrop's list. Mr. Deane in his history of
Scituate says he was one of the "men of Kent," and that in addi-
tion to his house lot, he owned eighty acres on North River,
which was afterwards the farm of Ephraim Kempton, and then of
John James.
On the 23d of November, 1634, Gi-oodman Cobb and other
members of the church at Plymouth "were dismissed from their
membershipp in case they joyned in a body att Scituate." On the
8th of January following, Mr. Lothrop makes the following entry
in his records : ' 'Wee had a day of humiliation and then att night
joyned in covenannt togeather, so many of us as had beene in
Covenannt before ; to witt, Mr. Gilson and his wife, Goodman
Anniball and his wife, Goodman Rowley and his wife, Goodman
■Cob and his wife, Goodman Turner, Edward Foster, myselfe,
Goodman Foxwell and Samuel House." The two last named may
have been a part of the company who arrived in the Griffin with
Mr. Lothrop ; but the others had been in the Colony several years.
It is probable that many of them had been members of the Con-
gregational Church in London, and that this meeting was a re-
union under their old Pastor of those who had before been "in
convenannt togeather." Goodman Cobb was a leading and influ-
ential member, and for forty-four years was either the senior dea-
con, or a ruling elder of the church.
When it was proposed that the church remove to Sippican,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 167
now Eochester, Dea. Cobb was one of the committee to whom the
Colony Court in 1638 granted the lands for a township ; and
when it was afterwards decided to remove to Mattakeese, now
Barnstable, he was a member of the committee having charge of
the selecting of a suitable location for the settlement.
Deacon Cobb's house lot in Barnstable containing seven acres,
was situate at a little distance north from the present Unitarian
Meeting House, between the lots of Thomas Huckins on the
north and Eoger Goodspeed on the south, extending from George
Lewis' meadow on the west t^ the "Old Mill Way" on the east.
This tract of land is uneven and a large portion was originally a
swamp. It was not one of the most desirable lots in the settle-
ment.
His other lands were the neck of land and the meadows ad-
joining, where Cobb & Smith's wharf and stores are now situate,
bounded southerly by Lewis Hill and John Davis' marsh and on
the other sides by the surrounding creeks.
His Great Lot, containing three score acres, was situate on
the south side of the County road, between the present dwelling
houses of Joseph Cobb and James Otis. It was bounded in 1654,
easterly by the lands of Henry Taylor and Joshua Lumbard,
southerly by the commons, westerly partly by the commons and
partly by Goodman Foxwell's land, and northerly by the highway
and Henry Taylor's land.
Two lots of six acres each in the new Common Field.
One acre of Goodspeed's lot, (the deep bottom on the north
of the Meeting House) then town's commons was granted to him
in 1665, in payment for land damages "by ye highway running
over or between his land from ye gate to Thomas Huckins."
This acre was situated between "The Gate" at the entrance to the
old miU way and the present Pound. He was also one of the
proprietors of the common lands in the town of Barnstable, and
owned lands in Suckinneset, now Falmouth.
Deacon Cobb's house lot was rough and uneven, and not
desirable land for cultivation. His great lot had some good soil.
It was a good grazing farm, and as the raising of cattle was the
principle business of the first settlers, his lands were probably
Selected with reference to that object. His two lots in the new
Common Field had a rich soil, and was occupied as planting
lands.
He appears to have built two houses on his home lot. The
first was probably a temporary one to shelter his family till he had
time and means to build a better. It is a curious fact that the
three deacons of the church lived in stone or fortification houses.
It was required that such houses should be built in every planta-
tion as a place of refuge for the inhabitants, should the Indians
prove treacherous or hostile. It seems that the deacons then pro-
168 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
vided for the personal safety, as well as the spiritual wants of the
people. Deacon Cobb built his house on his lot, where the house
formerly occupied by Josiah Lewis stands — a spot well selected
for defence against Indian hostilities. Dea. Dimmock's stood a
little east from the dwelling house of Isaac Davis, and 'Dea.
Crocker's at West Barnstable. The two latter were remaining
within the memory of persons now living. They were about
twenty-iive feet square on the ground ; the lower story was of
stone, the upper of wood.
Elder Cobb died in 1679, having lived to a good old age, and
was buried in the grave yard on Lothrop's Hill. No monument
marks the spot where rest his mortal remains — no epitaph records
his virtues. Deane says "he was a useful and valuable man," and
there is beauty and truth in the words. He lived to be useful not
to amass wealth or acquire political distinction.
When a young man, he separated himself from the Church of
England and joined the Puritans, then few in numbers, without
influence, poor, despised and persecuted by the civil and ecclesias-
tical powers. It appears that he joined Mr. Lothrop's church in
London, the members whereof were tolerant in their views, inde-
pendent and fearless in advocating the cause of religious liberty
and the rights of conscience, and bold in their denunciations of
all human creeds. He did not escape persecution, but he for-
tunately escaped being fconfined for two long years with Mr.
Lothrop and twenty-four members of his church in the foul and
loathsome prisons of London.
He came to this country to secure religious liberty and the
freedom of conscience — utterly detesting all human creeds, and
firmly believing that the life is the best evidence of christian faith.
He remained in Plymouth a few years, joined in church fellowship
with the followers of Robinson, and listened to the teaching of
the mild and venerable Brewster.
In 1633, he went to Scituate, then a new settlement, and
assisted in clearing the forests and building up a town. The next
year his pastor Mr. Lothrop came over and settled in that town,
and soon after, many of his ancient friends and brethren were his
townsmen. After the organization of the church, they invested
him with the office of senior deacon, a mark of their confidence
in his ability and of their esteem for him as a man and a christian.
In Barnstable he was active and useful in promoting the
temporal, and in ministering to the spiritual wants of the first
settlers. He was a town officer, a member of the most important
town committees, and in 1645, 1647, 1652, 1659, 1660 and 1661,
a deputy to the Colony Court. On the 14th of April, 1670, he
was chosen and ordained a ruling elder of the Barnstable church,
an office which he held till his death in 1679.
Elder Cobb was not a man of brilliant talents. He was a
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 169
useful man, and an exemplary Christian. With perhaps one
exception his life was a living illustration of his political and
religious opinions. When in 1657, mainly through the influence
of men in the Massachusetts Colony, a spirit of intolerance spread
through the Plymouth Colony, and laws were enacted that an
enlightened common sense condemns, and which were in violation
of the principles of religious liberty which the fathers had held
sacred. Elder Cobb was one of the deputies to the G-eneral
Court, and there is no evidence to show that he did not approve
of their enactment. In so doing he violated principles which he
had long cherished and held sacred. It would have been better
for his reputation had he like his friends Smith, Cudworth and
Robinson and nearly all of the "first comers" then living, pro-
tested against these intolerant measures, and like them retired to
private life with clear consciences and an unspotted reputation.
Four years were sufficient to sweep away every vestige of the
fanatical and intolerant spirit which had spread ovef the Old
Colony. How could it be otherwise ? How could men who had
themselves suffered persecution, imprisonment and stripes for
conscience sake, and who had through life stoutly maintained that
God alone was the judge of men's consciences, how could they,
when the excitement had passed away, believe it right to perse-
cute Baptists and Quakers and wrong to persecute Puritans. The
absurdity of such a course forced itself upon the minds of such
men as Elder Cobb, and soon wrought a complete change in pub-
lic opinion.
Three of the name of Cobb came to New England, and if
John of Plymouth and John of Taunton are not the same, four.
The Cobbs of Georgia are a different family, though perhaps
remotely related. Thomas R. R. Cobb a brother of the rebel
general Howell Cobb in a letter dated at Athens, Geo., April 7,
1857, says, "I have but little information as to my remote ances-
try. The tradition as I have received it from my father, is that
seven brothers originally emigrated from England. Four settled
in Vh'ginia, three went to Massachusetts. Their names or subse-
quent history I never learned. I have heard my father say that
his grandfather would frequently relate that the brother from
whom he was descended, bought his wife from an emigrant ship
for 700 lbs. of tobacco. My father, grandfather and great-
grandfather were all named John."
Traditions are usually worthless. Three of the name came
to Massachusetts, as stated in the letter ; but there is no evidence
that they were brothers. The presumption is they were not.
Mr. Pratt in his history of Eastham, page 27, gives an account of
the origin of the Cobb families founded on a tratition which is
wholly unreliable. He says four of the name, sons of Sylvanus,
came over, namely, Jonathan from Harwich, England, settled in
170 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Eastham ; Eleazer iu Hingham ; Sylvauus north of Boston ; and
Benjamin, whose sou Isaac was Port Admiral of Yarmouth, Eng-
land. Jonathan was a descendant of Henrj' and born in Barn-
stable. Eespecting Benjamin, the document quoted by Mr.
Pratt, says he settled near Rhode Island, which is very doubtful.
Descendants of Augustine were in that vicinity. The Eleazer and
Sylvanus he named were probably both descendants of Henry.
No Eleazer settled in Hingham. The earliest of the name in that
town was Richard who is called of Boston. He had a son
Thomas born 28th March, 1693, probably the one of that name
who settled in Eastham, and married Mary Freeman, before 1719.
A Thomas Cobb, Sen'r, died in Hingham Jau'y -i, 1707-8.
Edward Cobb was of Taunton in 1657, married at Plymouth,
28th Nov. 1660, Mary Haskius, and died 1675, leaving a son
Edward. His widow married Samuel Philips.
Augustine Cobb was of Taunton in 1670, and had Elizabeth,
born lOtisFeb. 1771 ; Morgan, 29th Dec. 1673 ; Samuel, 9th Nov.
1675 ; Bethia, 5th April, 1678 ; Mercy, 12th Aug. 1680 ; and
Abigail, 1684. Gen. David Cobb, one of the aids of Washington
in the army of the Revolution is a descendant from Augustine.
John Cobb of Taunton from 1653 to 1677, Mr. Boylies says,
came from Plymouth, if so, he was a son of Henry of Barnstable.
A John Cobb who appears to have been a resident in Taunton,
administered on the estate of his brother'Gershom who was killed
at Swanzey by the Indians, June 24, 1675. Mr. Savage thinks
there were two John Cobbs ; but 1 prefer the authority of. Mr.
Baylies. There is only one entry on the records, that favors the
supposition that there were two John Cobbs, and that after careful
examination, I think is an error of the town clerk of Taunton.
Elder Henrj' Cobb married in 1631, Patience, daughter of
Dea. James Hurst, of Plymouth. She was "bui-yed May 4, 1648,
the first that was buryed in our new burying place by our meeting
house." (Lothrop's Church Rec.) He was married to his second
wife, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Hinckley by Mr. Prince, Dec. 12,
1649. He died in 1679, and his wife Sarah survived him.
In his will dated April 4, 1678, proved June 3, 1679, and in
the codicil thereto dated Feb. 28, 1678, he gives his great lot of
land in Barnstable to his son James, the latter paying Elder Cobb's
John £5 for his interest therein. Names his sons John, James,
Gershom and Eleazer, to whom he had theretofore given half his
lands at Suckinesset, — gave his "new dwelling house"* and all
* "His new dwelling house." lam inclined to the opinion that Elder Cobb sold liis
stone house to Nathaniel Bacon, in his life time and that the house to which he refers was
on his "great lot," and that it was afterwards owned by son Oames and grandson Gershom.
In 1823, Mr. Josiah Childs a descendent in the female line pointed out a post to me in his
fence, and said fifty years ago I mortised that post from a timber taken iVom the house of the
first G-ei-shom Cobb, and said that fi-om information he had obtained fi-om his ancestors, the
house was OTer one hundred years old when consequently was built in the life time of the
Klder. That house stood on his "great lot," near tlie ancient pear tree now standing.
(See account of 3d f Icrshom Hall.)
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 171
the rest of his uplands and meadows to his wife Sarah. In his
will he gave his dwelling house after the decease of his wife to
his son .Samuel ; but in the codicil to his son Henry. He also,
named his son Jonathan, and daughters Mary, Hannah, Patience
and .Sarah.
CJiildren born in Plymouth.
I. John, born 7th June, 1632. Removed from Barnstable to
Plymouth and from thence, according to Mr. Baylies, to
Taunton, and returned again to Plymouth about the year
1678. He married twice, fii-st 28th Aug. 1658, Martha
Nelson of P. Second, June 13, 1676, Jane Woodward of
Taunton. His children were John, born 24th June, 1662,
in P., died young. Samuel, Israel and Elizabeth, the
dates of whose births are not given, probably born in
Taunton. John, born in Taunton 31st March 1678, ac-
cording to the return, probably 1677 ; Elisha, in Plymouth,
3d, April, 1678, and James, 20th July, 1682. Elisha of
this family probably settled in Wellfleet, and had Col.
Elisha and Thomas. Col. Elisha had five sons, and has
descendants in the lower towns of this County. A Thomas
Cobb married Mary Freeman of Eastham, before 1719, and
probably was not the Thomas above named.
II. James, born 14th Jan'y, 1634. (See account of him and
his family below.)
Children born in Scituate.
III. Mary, 24th March, 1637. She married 15th Oct. 1657,
Jonathan Dunham then of Barnstable and his second wife.
His first wife was Mary, daughter of Phillip Delano, whom
he married 29th Nov. 1655. He removed to Middleboro',
was sometime minister to the Indians at the islands ; but
was in 1694 ordained at Edgartown.
IV. Hannah, 5th Oct. 1639, married 9th May, 1661, Edward
Lewis. She died Jan'y 17, 1729-30, aged 90 years, 3
months, 12 daj'S.
Children born in Barnstable.
V. Patience, bap'd 13th March 1641-2, married Robert Parker
Aug. 1667, his second wife. After his death in 1684, she
probably married Dea. William Crocker.
VI. G-ershom, born 10, bap'd 12th Jan'y, 1644-5. He removed
to Middleboro', where he was constable in 1671 and on the
grand jury in 1674. He was buried- at Swanzey 24th
June, 1675, having, with eight others, been killed that
day by the forces of Philip. His brother John adminis-
tered on his estate, which was divided in equal proportions
to the children of Mr. Henry Cobb of Barnstable, only
John, the older son, to have a double portion.
172 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
VII. Eleazer, born 30th March, 1648. He was admitted a
townsman Dec. 1678, when he was 24, indicating that he
was then unmarried. He was of Barnstable in 1703, and
as he had only 12 1-2 shares in the common lands, the
presumption is that he was not then a householder. It does
not appear that he had a family. His death is not re-
corded, and the settlement of his estate is not entered on
the probate records. It may be, but is not probable, that
he was the Eleazer whom Mr. Pratt says settled in Hing-
ham.
VIII. Mehitabel, born 1st Sept. 1751, died 8th March, 1652.
IX. Samuel, born Oct. 12, 1654. (See account below.)
X. Sarah, born 15 Jan'y, 1658, died Jan'y 25, 1658.
XI. Jonathan, born 10th April, 1660. (See account below.)
XII. Sarah, born 10th March, 1662-3, married 27th Dec. 1686,
Dea. Samuel Chipmau of Barnstable. She had ten chil-
dren. Her sons Thomas, Samuel, John, Seth and Barna-
bas, were men who held a high rank in society. The late
Chief Justice Nathaniel Chipman, L. L. D., was her grand-
son. She died Jan'y 8, 1742-3, aged nearly 80.
XIII. Henry, born 3d Sept. 1665, inherited the paternal mansion.
He was married by Justice Thacher, 10th April 1690 to
Lois Hallet. Oct. 9, 1715, he was dismissed from the
Barnstable, to the church in Stonington, Conn. His chil-
dren born in Barnstable were, Gideon, 11th April, 1691 ;
Eunice, 18th Sept. 1693 ; Lois, 2d March, 1696 ; and
Nathan, bap'd June 1, 1700. Margaret the wife of Gideon
of this family was admitted July 31, 1726, to the church
in Hampton, Conn. He afterwards removed from H.
XIV. Mehetabel, born 15th Feb. 1667.
XV. Experience, born 11th Sept. 1671.
Neitlier of these two daughters being mentioned in the will of
their father, the presumption is they died young.
Sergeant James Cobb, son of Elder Henry Cobb, born in
Plymouth, January 14, 1634, resided in Barnstable. He married.
26th Dec. 1663, Sarah, daughter of George Lewis, Sen'r. He
died in 1695, aged 61. He left no will. His estate was settled
Feb. 1, 1695-6, and all his eleven children are named. His
widow Sarah married 23d Nov. 1698, Jonathan Sparrow of East-
ham. She died Feb. 11, 1735, in the 9 2d year of her age, and
was buried in the grave-yard near the East Church, Barnstable.
■ Children born in Barnstable.
I. Mary, 24th Nov. 1664, married May 31, 1687, Capt. Caleb
Williamson of Barnstable. The family removed to Hart-
ford after 1700, where she died in 1737, aged 73.
II. Sarah, 26th Jan'y 1666, married 27th Dec. 1686, Benjamin
Hinckley of Barnstable. She had ten ohildi-en, the five
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAilNSTABLE FAMILIES. 173
first born all dying young.
III. Patience, 12tli Jan'y, 1668, married 1694, Jame^ Coleman,
and had eight children. She married 1,0th Sept. 1715,
Thomas Lombard of Barnstable. She died March 30,
174:7, aged 79 years. Her second husband w.a8 95 at his
death May 30, 1761.
IV. Hannah, 28th March 1671, married Joseph Davis March
1695, and died May 3, 1739, aged 68. She left a family
of eight children.
V. James, 8th July, 1673. (See account below.)
VI. G-ershom, 4th August, 1675. (See account below.)
VII. John, 20th Dec. 1677, Mr. John Cobb as he is called on
the records, married 25th Dec. 1707, Hannah Lothrop.
He owned the house now the residence of Mr. David
Bursley, and his son Ephraim resided there within the
memory of persons now living. His children were Ephraim,
born 5th Dec. 1708. He married Margaret G-ardner of
Yarmouth, Jan'y 7, 1729-30. He had also John born 1st
July, 1711, died March 1, 1713, and John again born Oct.
2, 1719, who died May 25, 1736. Mr. John Cobb died
Aug. 24, 1754, aged 77 years, aind his wife Hannah April
3, 1747, aged 66 years.
VIII. EUzabeth, 6th Oct. 1680.
IX. Martha 6th Feb. 1682.
X. Mercy, 9th April, 1685.
XI. Thankful, 10th June, 1687.
The fpm- daughters last named had shares in the estate of
their father at the settlement made in 1696. Their mother married
in 1698, Jonathan Sparrow, Esq., of Eastham, and these daugh-
ters probably removed to that town with her. Mercy was May
24, 1701, a witness to the will of Mu-iam Wing of Harwich. At
the proof of the will Jan'y 8, 1702-3, she is called "now Mercy
Sparrow."
Samuel Cobb, son of Elder Henry Cobb, born in Barnstable
12th Oct. 1654, was a farmer and resided in the lower part of the
town, and built a house on the six acre lot that was his father's in
the new commonfleld. His first house stood on the south-east
corner of the land, on the west side of the lane leading to Indian
lands. He soon after built a two story house, a little farther west
on the same spot where the late farmer Joseph Cobb's house stood.
It was two stories and constructed in the style common in those
days. It was taken down about the year 1805. He married Dec.
20, 1680 Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Taylor, called "tailor"
to distinguish him from another of the same name. He died Dec.
27, 1727 aged 73, and his wife May 4, 1721 aged 66.
Children horn in Barnstable.
I. Sarah, 20th Aug. 1681. She married Feb. 4, 1701-2
174 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Benjamin Bearse, and resided at Hyanuis where she died
Jan. 14, 1742, and is buried in the old.grave yard there.
II. Thomas, born 1st June 1683, married Rachel Stone of
Sudbm-y, Jan. 1, 1710, and had eleven children born in
Barnstable, namely : 1, Abigail 29th March 1711, married
Nathaniel Sturgis Feb. 20, 1734-5 ; 2, Nathaniel, 15th Oct.
1713, married Susannah Bacon Dec. 14, 1738. He died
Feb. 14, 1763, aged 50. His cWldren were Thomas Dec.
1, 1739 ; Oris Nov. 9, 1741, father of the present Lewis ;
Samuel Nov. 30, 1744 ; Susannah Jan. 1, 1746-7 ; Nathan-
iel March 19, 1748-9, died Sept. 26, 1839 aged 90 ; Sarah
March 31, 1751. 3, Elizabeth 14th Feb. 1715, married
Jonathan Lewis, Jr., Oct. 13, 1737 ; 4, Samuel 20th March
1717; 5, Matthew 15th April 1719, married Mary Garret
January 24, 1750-1, and had Matthew, a merchant at Port-
land and a man of wealth and considerable distinction ;
Daniel engaged in trade many years in Barnstable, and the
father of the present Matthew Cobb, Esq., and others ; 6,
David 28th Feb. 1721, married Thankful Hinckley Aug.
12, 1745, and had four children, died May 23, 1757; 7,
Henry 16th April 1724, married Bethiah Hinckley Jan. 31,
1753-4; 8, Thomas 30th April 1726, died Aug. 1726; 9,
Ebenezer, twin brother of Thomas, died January 5, 1856,
married Mary Smith, had 5 daughters ; 10, Eunice, bap't
23d Feb. 1728-9; and 11, Mary, bap'd Nov. 7, 1731.
Thomas Cobb was taxed in 1737 for £1000, and was a man
of wealth for the times.
III. Elizabeth, born Nov. 1685, married 25th Nov. 1708 Eben-
ezer Bearse. She died 15th July 1711.
IV. Henry, born 1687.
V. Samuel, 10th Sept. 1691, married first Sarah Chase of Tis-
bury, Jan. 25, 1716, and in 1725 Hannah Cole.
VI. Mehitable, 10th Sept. 1691, twin sister of Samuel, married
30th June 1715, Nathan Taylor.
VII. Experience, 8th June 1692, married 18th Feb. 1713-4
Jasher Taylor of Yarmouth.
VIII. Jonathan, 25th Dec. 1694, married Oct. 20, 1715, Sarah
Hopkins of Harwich. The records of his family are incom-
plete. He had Benjamin, born June 25, 1726, married
Bethia Homer of Yarmouth, and was afterwards a mer-
chant of Boston; Samuel, born May 21, 1728; Elkanah,
born Aug. 9, 1731 ; Eleazer born Dec. 28, 1734, married
Kesiah, daughter of Eleazer Crosby ; and Elizabeth born
April 30, 1738; married Crosby. Beside the above
he had a son Jonathan, who married Mary Clark, born
about 1716, who was the father of Elijah, — Scotto, 1741,
Isaac 1745, John, Seth, Mary, Sally, Hannah, Betsey and
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 175
Elkanah. Scotto above named, was the father of the late
Gen. Elijah Cobb,* whose son Elijah, a merchant of Bos-
ton, died Aug. 1861.
IX. Eleazer, born 14th Jan. 1696, married Reliance Paine Oct.
18, 1724. He occupied the house built by his father.
He died Sept. 21, 1731 aged 35, and his widow married
John Coleman Aug. 5, 1736. She continued to reside on
the Cobb farm till her death, June 11, 1742. The children
of Eleazer Cobb born in Barnstable were, Benjamin Nov.
20, 1725 ; Joseph 28th March, 1727, died 11th Oct. 1737 ;
and Reliance, 30th Sept. 1728, married 1747 Paul Crowell,
Jr., of Chatham; and Patience, bap't 15th Aug. 1731,
married Nathaniel Allen of Barnstable. Benjamin, the
son of Eleazer, married May 29, 1749, Anna Davis, and
had Reliance May 9, 1750 ; Eleazer, Aug. 7, 1752 ; Benja-
min, Jan. 28, 1759, married Persis Taylor of Barnstable,
Nov. 13, 1783, the second marriage recorded by Rev. Mr.
Mellen. He had one son, the present Enoch T. Cobb, and
a daughter Hannah ; Joseph, February 19, 1763, known as
farmer Joseph, married June 19, 1785, Elizabeth Adams ;
and Samuel April 23, 1765, the latter a tanner and shoe
maker.
X. Lydia, born Dec. 1699, married Ebenezer Scudder, 1725,
and is the ancestor of nearly if not all of the name in
Barnstable.
JonathanCobb, son of Elder Henry Cobb, born in Barnstable
10th April 1660, married March 1, 1682-3, Hope, widow of John
Huckings, and daughter of Elder John Chipman. He resided in
Barnstable till 1703, when he removed to Middleborough, and
from thence to Falmouth, now Portland, Me. His children were,
1, Samuel, born 23d Feb. 1683-4; Jonathan 26th April, 1686;
Ebenezer 10th April 1688 ; Joseph 24th Aug. 1690 ; Lydia 17th
Jan. 1692-3 ; Gershom bap't 7th July, 1695. That this Jonathan
was not the one who removed to Harwich, the following facts
show. His son Samuel married Abigail and had at Middleboro,
Chipman born 5th March 1708-9, and probably others ; at Port-
land, Peter, Feb. 1720, and at Manchester, James, born July 7,
1723. Jonathan, son of Jonathan, had by his wife Betty at
Portland Lydia, Aug. 9, 1720 ; Ebenezer, Feb. 19, 1722 ; Mary,
Nov. 8, 1723 ; Deborah, Aug. 14, 1725. Ebenezer, son of Jona-
than, married Mary. He died at Portland Oct. 29, 1721, aged
* I have a genealogy of fhe Cobb family based on the recollections of Gen. Cobb. It
seems to be the same on which Mr. Pratt relied, and frhich has always been noticed. Gen.
Cobb's information respecting his great grandfather is Ter^ imperfect, and of the preceed-
ing generations mostly if not entirely suppositions. It is certain that Gen. Cobb was a
descendent of Henry of Barnstable. The Truro aud "Wellfleet families probably descend
some from Elisha of Plymouth and some from James Cobb born Sept. 13, 1698, who removed
to Tmro. Elisha Cobb, bom 24th Dec. 1702, married Mary, Harding, and probably removed
to Wellfleet, and Thomas, son of Richard of Hingham to Eastham.
176 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
33. Chipman, son of Samuel, married Elizabeth and had, at
Portland, Nathan, January 7, 1732 ; and Andrew, March 27,
1734.
James Cobb, son of James and grandson of Elder Henry
Cobb, born 8th July, 1673, resided on his grandfather's "great
lot." He niarried 18th Sept. 1695, Elizabeth Hallett. She died
April 1, 1759, aged 80. Their children born in Barnstable were :
I. James, born 13th Sept. 1698, he married Hannah Rich of
Truro, May 14, 1724, and had 1, James, June 16, 1725,
died Oct. following ; 2, Elizabeth, Saturday Oct. 29, 1726 ;
3, Lois, Friday June 27, 1729 ; 4, Isaac, Tuesday Dec. 21,
1731; 5, Ezekiel, Saturday Aug. 31, 1734; 6, Hannah,
Wednesday, April 20, 1737 ; 7, Dinah, bap'd June 1, 1740 ;
8, Deliverance, bap'd Sept. 19, 1742. Hannah, wife of
James Cobb, Jr., was dismissed from the church in Barn-
stable to the church in Truro, Jan'y 15, 1663-4, and pro-
bably the family removed to that town.
II. Sylvanus, born 25th Nov. 1700, married Mercy Baker,
Nov. 7, 1728. He died Sept. 30, 1756, aged 55. His
children born in Barnstable were, 1, Mercy, Oct. 13, 1729,
married James Churchill, Jan'y 10, 1751, died Sept. 25,
1756; 2, Ebenezer, Aug. 13, 1731, married 1754 Lydia
Churchill of Middleboro', and had .James and Ebenezer ;
3, Sylvanus, Feb. 18, 1734-5, died May 10, 1737 ; 4, Ben-
nie, Jan'y 23, 1736-7; 5, Rebecca, April 2, 1739, died
Aug. 17, 1756, aged 17; 6, Sylvanus, July 21, 1741 ; 7,
Thankful, bap't Sept. 25, 1743 ; 8, Lydia, bap'd Jan'y 5,
1745-6. From this family I am informed that Rev. Syl-
vanus Cobb is descended.
III. Elisha, born 24th Dec. 1702, married Mary Harding, of
Trm-o, Feb. 25, 1724-5.
IV. Jesse, born 15th April, 1704, married Thankful Baker,
Jan'y 1, 1733-4. She died May 6, 1742, and he died Dec.
1777, aged 72. His children born in Barnstable were
Joseph, born 22d Sept. 1734, who married Desire Lum-
bard and had Thankful Nov. 14, 1757 ; Remember-Mercy,
Jan'y 13, 1760, and Joseph, Aug. 18, 1762, (the father of
the present Mr. James Cobb). The daughters Thankful
and Mercy it is said were bewitched when young, and
marvelous stories are related of them. Jesse Cobb had
also Seth, bap'd Sept. 4, 1737, removed to Sandwich ;
Rowland, bap'd Oct. 15, 1738, married Thankful Garret of
S. ; Nicholas, bap'd Feb. 10, 1739-40, married Ann Perry
had Chloe Blush now living, aged 96, and others ; Nathan
bap'd Jan's 18, 1740-41. Jesse Cobb was an illiterate
man. He could neither read or write ; but he considered
himself a great poet and employed an amanuensis. His
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF UAHNSTABLE FAMILIES. 177
two nearest aeighbors, John Lewis," many years town
school master, and Solomon Otis, Esq., were graduates of
Harvard College. John Bacon, Esq., and Capt. Samuel
Bacon, "gentlemen," were also his neighbors, and he thus
had the advantage of daily intercourse with literary men.
Jesse's poetry has not been preserved. Some verses are
however repeated by his descendants. The extravagance
of the times, the fashions, and the ladies, whom he did not
» treat with much courtesy, where his favorite themes. The
dogerel rhymes in the note* are e:^tracts from his poem
addressed to James Paine, Esq., who kept a school several
years in Barnstable, and who, dm-ing his leisure hours,
coui'ted the muses.
V. Seth, born loth April, 1707.
VI. J:benezer, born 7th March, 1709, died Sept. 1710.
VII. Jude (or Judah), born -iith June, 1711.
VIII. Nathan, born, loth June, 1713, married Bethia Harding of
Eastham, 1736.
IX. Stephen, born 27th Jan'y 1716, married July 8, 1742,
Abigail Chipman, and had Mary, Judah, James, Abigail,
Stephen, Chipman and Jacob.
X. Elizabeth, born 18th April, 1718, married March 10,
1736-7, David Hawes of Yarmouth.
Gershom Cobb, son of James and grand son of Elder Henry
Cobb, born Aug. 4, 1675, married Hannah Davis, 24th Feb.,
1702-3
His house stood near the centre of Elder Cobb's great lot.
Some ancient pear trees now mark the spot. Elder Cobb proba-
bly built a house there, afterwards owned by his son James. His
children born in Barnstable were :
I. John, 22d May, 1704, died April 1706.
II. Sarah, 27th Oct. 1705, married Nath'l Bacon, 1726.
III. Gershom, 15th Nov. 1707, married April 20, 1732, Miss
Sarah Baxter of Yarmouth, and died the same year leaving
a son Gershom, who married Feb. 6, 1751-2, Mehitebel,
daughter of Job Davis. He died in 1758 leaving three
* "Christ, he was a carpenter by trade,
Aud he the doors of Hearen made.
And he did swear
That high crowned caps and plaited hair
Sliould never have admittance there."
A fashion prevailed among the ladies in Jesse's time of weai-ing the hair combed aud
plaited over a cushion resting on the top of the head- This was surmounted with a high
crowned cap.
The following is the closing stanza and is particularly addressed to Mr. Paine who was
the champion of the ladies :
"He who for a pls'treen twice told, I
Will labor for a week in school,
Can offer nothing veiy great,
So here is alll shall relate."
In another stanza Jpsse commends fo Mr. Paine the perusal of the third chapter of
I^iiiah.
178 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
sons, bap'd Nov. 25, 1759, named Edward, (born Nov. 6,
1752) G-ershom and Josiah. Gershom the father was a
very honest, upright man, a weaver. In the summer
months he was employed in the fishing business, and the
remainder of the year in weaving, &c. His widow in 1776
married Nathaniel Lothrop, his second wife, and she had
by him a daughter Susan, who married Eleazer Cobb, Jr.
She died in 1812 or 13, aged about 80. Her son Edward
was a carpenter, married Jan'y 29, 1778, Hannah Hallett of
Yarmouth, removed in 1782 to Westborough, where he died
Oct. 27, 1819. He had ten children. Gershom was a
mariner and taken a prisoner by the English during the
Revolution. He returned to Barnstable about the year
1793, and it is said that he returned to England married
and^had two children there. Josiah went to Boston to
learn a shoemaker's trade, but disliking the trade left. It
is supposed that he was lost at sea.*
IV. John, born 17th Nov. 1709. Removed to Plymouth.
V. Hannah, 29th Aug. 1711, married Jan'y 29, 1734, David
Childs of Barnstable.
VI. Thankful, 10th July, 1714, married Oct. 14, 1746, David
Dimmock.
VII. Anne, 8th Dec. 1716, died 4th Nov. 1720.
VIII. Josiah, twin brother of Anne.
IX. Edward, 2d Nov. 1718.
X. Mary, 14th June, 1721, married first, Isaac Gorham, Sept.
2, 1742, and second, James Churchill, Feb. 3, 1756-7.
Jesse Cobb was a loyalist or tory. He was one of the party
who assembled on the evening of the night when the liberty pole
in Barnstable was cut down. Jesse was called on by the company
to compose a notice to be posted up, and he dictated the following,
impromptu :
Your Liberty pole,
I dare be bold,
Appears like Dagon bright.
But it will faU,
And make a scrawl.
Before the morning light.
Jesse was seventy years of age when he dictated the above,
and it indicates that he was ready, and possessed more wit than
we have given him credit for. The Liberty pole stood in front of
the public house of Mrs. Abiah Crocker, where the willow tree
now stands. It stood on a knowl or small hill there which has
*The account of the family of Gershsom Cobb I obtain from tbe records, a manuscript
of one of the descendants, and other sources. Respecting the third Gershom (son of Ger-
shom and Sarah) I rely on the manuscript which seems to be corroborated by the Pi-obate
records. Gershom Cobb, Jr.'s inventory is dated Jan'y 23, 1733, showing that he died soon
after his maiTiage.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 179
since been leveled. The pole was very tall, and surmounted with
a gilt ball, to which- allusion is made by Mr. Cobb. During the
night the pole was cut down and fell across the road. Who cut
it down has never been satisfactorily ascertained. I persume it
would have been difficult for Jesse Cobb, Samuel Crocker and
Otis Loring, to have proved that they were not present.
CLAGHORN,
.TAMES CLAGI-IOEN.
James Claghorn was not one of the first settlers. He was of
Barnstable in 1654, and took the oath of fidelity in 1657. He
removed to Yarmouth about the year 1662, when his wife com-
mitted suicide Oct. 1677, by hanging herself in the chamber of
her house. This is the first suicide on record in this part of the
Colony.
James Claghorn married 6th January, 1654, Abigail, sometimes
written Abia, probably a daughter of Barnard Lombard, though she
may have been a sister. His children bom in Barnstable were :
I. James, 29th January 1654. He probably died early. Mr.
Savage was led into a mistake by a typographical error in the
Genealogical Register of 1856, page 348, where Jane is
printed James.
n. Mary, born 26th October, 1655, married March 28, 1682,
Joseph Davis, had four children, died 1706.
HI. Elizabeth, April 1658.
IV. Sarah, 3d January, 1659.
V. Robert, 27th Oct. 1661.
VI. Shubael. Birth not recorded.
Robert Claghorn, son of James, married 6th November,
1701, Bethia, widow of Nathaniel Lothrop. By her first husband
she had John and Hannah. She died, say the church records,
'last end of October, 1731, aged about 60.' Robert Claghorn's
estate was settled 22d Aug. 1715, and his widow Bethia, sons
Joseph, Nathaniel and Samuel, and only daughter Abia are
named. He owned 7 1-2 acres of land in the common field, a lot
in the neck below Joshua Lumbard's, and lands bought of the
heirs of Joseph Davis at South Sea, shares in the common lands,
and about £300 in money. No house is named in the settlement.
He administered on the estate of his sister Mary, and probably
resided at her house at the time of his death. In 1702 he owned
a part of the Lumbert farm, and had a house at the east end of
the pond and for that reason it is sometimes called in the records
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 181
Claghorn's instead of Lumtaert's pond. This estate he sold to a
Crocker, and it afterwards was bought by the Lothrops. Respect-
ing Robert Claghorn I have little information. He appears to
have been a very worthy man.
Children of Robert Clagliorv.
I. Abia, born Aug. 13, 1702. She did not marry, was admitted
a member of the East Church Nov. 3, 1745, and died Feb.
4, 1763.
II. Joseph, born Aug. 25,' 1704.
III. Nathaniel, born Nov. 10, 1707.
IV. Samuel, June 23, 1709. In the division of his father's es-
tate, the lands bought of the heirs of Joseph Davis at
Chequaquet were set off to him. He married September 11,
1742, Hannah, probably daughter of .Job Hinckley, and had
a son Nathaniel, April 29, 1743.
Shubael Claghorn, a son of James, married Jane, daughter
of .John Lovell. He died before 1729, when his widow married
John Bumpas of Rochester.
#
Children born in Barnstable.
I. James, August 1689. By his wife Experience he had, at
Rochester, Lemual June 10, 1713, and Mary April 12, 1715.
He afterwards, in 1736, married Elizabeth King of Kingston.
His wife died in Barnstable, Dec. 25, 1774, aged 66.
II. Thankful, 30th January, 1660-1, died January, 1696.
III. Thomas, 20th March 1692-3. A Thomas Claghorn of Ed-
gartown had a daughter Hannah baptized at the West
Church July 17, 1756.
IV. Shubael, 26th September, 1696.
V. Robert, 18th July, 1699. He married January 16, 1722-3
Thankful Coleman. He died July 11, 1750, aged 50, and
his widow April 1770, aged 70. He had : 1, James, Dec. 8,
1723, married 1747, Temperance Gorham, removed to Salis-
bury, returned in 1770; 2, Nehemiah, Jan. 30, 1725-6;
3, Eunice, May 4, 1728 ; 4, Benjamin, Dec. 17, 1733 ; 5,
Jabez, May 9, 1736, married Nov. 10, 1780, Eunice Davis,
died June 10, 1821, aged 85.
VI. Benjamin, 14th June, 1701.
VII. Reuben, baptized 28th April, 1706, married 1733, Eleanor
Lovell and had : ' , Jane, April 12, 1733 ; 2, Nathaniel, 22d
Aug. 1736 ; 3, Seth, Nov. 1, 1737 ; 4, Joanna, January 12,
1742 ; Lois, Feb. 8, 1747. His autograph signature is
affixed to a paper in the Probate Office. It is the best exe-
182 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
cuted signature that I have seen in that office.*
VIII. Mary, baptized 3d Aug., 1707, mamed 1729, Eben Clark of
Rochester.
IX. Jane, baptized 31st July 1709, married Joshua Lumbert, Jr.,
1755.
X. Ebeneazer, 30th July, 1712, married Oct. 30, 1734, Sarah
Lumbert. She died. He married Sept. 7, 1763, Elizabeth
Hamblin— had Joseph, Oct. 9, 1743 ; Sarah, July 27, 1764 ;
Jane, Oct. 1, 1765, married Job Childs, Nov. 24, 1785.
*Note. — Some would perhaps give precedence to the signature of Hon. Barnabas Lo-
throp or Col. William Bassett. Specimens of the chirogrophy of Mr. liOthrop are preserved.
The form of his letters resemble the Old English black letter type. He was not a rapid
writer, and evidently took much pains. Col. Bassett was a rapid penman, wrote a fine run-
ning liand, yet distinct and easily read. Of the early settlers, Rev. Joseph Lord of Chat-
ham was the best penman. He wrote a splendid hand. I have a volume of his manuscript
written as compactly as a printed page yet perfectly distinct. Joseph Lothrop, Esq., the
first Register of Probate, wrote .1 very neat hand. Anthony Thatcher and his son. Col.
John, were excellent Clerks. In the Gorham family were many who wrote good hands.
There is a remarkable similarity in the signatures of the successive John Gorhams, so
treat that it requires a practised eye to distinguish them. William, son of Col. David Gor-
am, wrote a splendid hand for records.
CHILD.
RICHAKD CHILD.
The earliest notice I find of Eichard Child is in Mr. Lothrop's
Church records. It is there recorded that "Richard Childe and
Mary Linnett marryed the 15th day of October, 1649, by Mr.
Collier at my Brother Linnett's house."
I find no record of his children ; but it appears that he had a
family, for March 5, 1660, he was ordered by the Court to desist
from erecting a cottage within the bounds of Yarmouth, the put-
ting up of such buildings being contrary to law. — He afterwards
gave security to save harmless the town of Yarmouth from all
charges on account of the children he then had, and he was there-
upon permitted "to enjoy his cottage."*
It thus appears that Richard Childs had a family, Samuel and
Richard Childs of Barnstable were probably his children. Sam-
uel was killed at Rehobeth battle March 25th, 1675. — There was
a Richard Child in Marshfleld in 1665, perhaps the same who had
been of Barnstable and Yarmouth. He there built him a house
and married, and had a family. Richard Child of Watertown,
born in 1631, was another man. He married March 30, 1662,
Mehitable Dimmock, a daughter of Elder Thomas of Barnstable.
His daughter Abigail married Joseph Lothrop of Barnstable, and
Hannah, Joseph Blush.
I find no positive evidence that Dea. Richard Child, from
whom all the Barnstable families of the name descend was a son
of the Richard who married Mary Linnell ; but there is little reason,
to doubt that such was the fact.
*In the account of Richard Berry I stated that he was forbidden to erect a cottage in
Yarmouth. That was a mistake, it was Eichard Child that was so forbidden. The prac-
tice which prevailed in early colonial times, of warning strangers out of town and forbid-
ding them to build houses or settle in a towTi without a license was sanctioned by law. The
case of Richard Child is not a solitary one. Men of good standing who were strangers
were often warned out of town. The law may seem harsh and tyramcal ; but reasons then
existed which have now passed away. If Richard Child had been allowed to build in Yar-
mouth without protest, he would have been entitled to a personal right in the common lands
and a tenement right amounting in Yarmouth to 16 1-2 shares out of the 3,118 into which
the to\vn was divided ; and if unfortunate, the town would be liable for the supplies of his
family. A protest not only saved the town harmless ; but prevented the person moving
in fi*om claiming the rights of a proprietor.
184 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
The name is written Childe, Child, Chiles and Childs on the
records. The true orthography is Child ; but all the descendants
of Richard, resident in Barnstable, write the 'name with a final s.
Dea. Richard Child, probably a son of the first Richard of
Barnstable, resided in the westerly part of the East Parish, on the
estate owned by the late Mr. John Dexter, deceased. He had a
shop, which indicates that he was a mechanic. He was admitted
to the church May 4, 1684, and ordained a deacon Sept. 4, 1706.
He married in 1678, Elizabeth, daughter of John Crocker. She
died January 15, 1696, and he married, second, Hannah .
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Samuel, born 6th Nov. 1679.
II. Elizabeth, born 23d Jan. 1681-2, died five weeks after,
III. Thomas, born 10th January, 1682-3. See account of fami-
ly below.
IV. Hannah, 22d January, 1684. The Hannah Child who mar-
ried 30th July, 1702, Joseph Blush of Barnstable, was as
above stated a daughter of Richard Child of Watertown.
V. Timothy born 22d Sept. 1686.
VI. Dea. Ebenezer, born, says the town record, "March, latter
end, 1691, as I think." He died January 17, 1756, N. S.,
in the 66th year of his age, and was buried at West Barn-
stable. He married in 1719 Hope, and had, 1, Elizabeth,
18th July, 1720, died 18th Sept. 1720; 2, Ebenezer, 10th
April, 1723 ; 3, Richard, baptized 1st Aug. 1725 ; 4, Mary,
baptized 3d Sept., 1727, died June 15, 1762 aged 35 ; and
Mercy, baptized 4th January, 1730. The .three last named
are not on the town records. Ebenezer Child, Jr., son of
Dea. Ebenezer, married January 15, 1745, Hannah Crocker.
She died Feb. 23, 1755, aged 37, and he married in 1756,
Abigail Freeman. His children were, 1, Ebenezer, born
Nov. 3, 1747, baptized at the West Church, Nov. 8, 1747 ;
2, Josiah, Aug. 8, 1749 ; 3, Hannah, Sept. 10, 1751 ; 4,
David, March 2, 1754; 5, by his second wife, Jonathan,
May 13, 1757 ; 6, Abigail, Dec. 26, 1758 ; 7, Hope, Janu-
ary 21, 1761 ; and Mary, baptized April 10, 1763.
VII. Elizabeth, born 6th June, 1692.
VIII. James, born 6th November, 1694. See account of his
family below.
IX. Mercy, born 7th May, 1697.
X. Joseph, born 5th March, 1699-10, married April 23, 1724,
Deliverance Hamblin. He was admitted to the West
Church Aug. 18, 1728, removed to Falmouth and returned
to Barnstable in 1747. The names of only two of his chil-
dren were on the town records. His children were, 1,
Joseph, born 17th Aug. 1724; married Meribah Dexter of
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 185
Rochester; 2, Benjamin, baptized 25th Aug. 1728, married
Mehitable Hamtalin, 1652, and had Lewis, Aug. 29, 1782 ;
Hannah, Sept. 6, 1754 ; and Mehitable, Dec. 27, 1756.
He died before June 10, 1758, when his three children were
baptized at the West Church. 3, Elizabeth, daughter of
Joseph, was baptized 24th August 1729 ; 4, Ruth, baptized
26th Sept. 1731, married 21st May, 1747, Reuben Blush ; 5,
James, born 4th March, 1742 ; and Abigail, baptized 29th
July 1750. Deliverance Childs who married March 3, 1757,
Daniel Hamblin, was probably a daughter of Joseph born in
Falmouth.
Thomas ChUds, son of Richard, born 10th January, 1682,
resided in the East Parish where he died, April 11, 1770, aged
88. He married in 1710, Mary . Of his family only
David appears to have remained in Barnstable.
Children of Thomas Childs born in Barnstable.
I. David, born July 20, 1711. See account below.
n. Jonathan, Nov. 27, 1713.
HI. Silas, March 10, 1715. Silas removed to Rhode Island,
and it is said settled in Warren. He has many descend-
ants.
IV. Hannah, born July 29, 1720, married Prince Taylor of
Lebanon, Conn., March 6, 1748.
V. Thomas, Sept. 10, 1725.
VI. Benjamin, Dec. 4, 1727, married Rebecca, daughter of
Stephen Davis of B., removed to Portland, had Thomas
Sept. 25, 1752 ; Isaac, Feb. 10, 1755 ; and Rebecca, March
9, 1769. He and his three children died early, and his
widow gave her estate to her brothers and sisters in Barn-
stable.
VII. Mary, born April 1, 1733.
James Childs, son of Richard, born 6th Nov. 1694, married
Sept. 27, 1722, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Crocker. He died
Nov. 2, 1779, aged 85.
Children born in Barnstable.
I. Samuel, July 15, 1723, married Feb. 20, 1752, Mary
daughter of Thos. Hinckley, and had 1, Samuel, July 7,
1753 ; Elijah, baptized Oct. 21, 1764 ; and Ebenezer, Jan.
18, 1766 ; Elijah and Ebenezer of this family, owned the
ancient house on the farm which was Dea. Cooper's at the
settlement of the town. Ebenezer did not marry and his
half of the house was sold to John Dexter. Elijah, mar-
ried Nov. 10, 1785, Mary Gorham, and was the father of
the present Dea. Samuel Childs and other children. He
was many years master of the Barnstable and Boston
packet sloop Romeo.
186 GENKALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
II. James, born April 22, 1725, married June 5, 1755, Mary,
daughter of David Parker, Esq., and had Elizabeth, born
May 6, 1756; Daniel, baptized Aug. 10, 1760; Mary,
baptized Feb. 15, 1761 ; Sarah, baptized Dec. 30, 1764,
and James, baptized May 24, 1767.
III. Elizabeth, born Dec. 20, 1730, married May 19, 1748,
Daniel Crocker.
IV. Sarah, born April 9, 1736, married May 2, 1754, Jonathan
Crocker.
V. Thankful, born Aug. 4, 1741, married Joseph Lawrence of
Sandwich, March 27, 1760.
VI. Richard, born March 22, 1743-4. He inherited the estate
which was his father's and grandfather's. He did not
marry. He had a large wen on one of his ankles, which in
the latter part of his life nearly disabled him from walking.
He gave his estate to John Dexter, on the condition that
he should support him for life. He died suddenly in 1805,
aged about 61.
David Childs, a son of Thomas, born July 20, 1711, married
Jan. 29, 1734 by John Thacher, Esq., to Hannah, daughter of
Gersham Cobb. His children born in Barnstable were :
I. David, Feb. 7, 1735-6, married April 4, 1758, Hannah,
daughter of Job Davis, and had 1, Susannah, July 30,
1762, married Joseph Cobb, Sept. 30, 1784; 2, Asenath,
Sept. 22, 1765, married 1st, Josiah Clark, 2d,
Wild, and lived in Boston; 3, Job, Sept. 8, 1767, married
Jane Claghorn, 24th Nov. 1785; 4, Hannah, Nov. 17,
1769, married 4th April, 1788, Josiah Gorham ; 5, Anna,
Nov. 1741, died unmarried, had Polly AUyn ; 6, Josiah,
Dec. 14, 1773, married and then removed to Westborough
and thence to Boston ; 7, David, July 8, 1775 ; 8, Shubael
Davis, Dec. 16, 1777, married , died suddenly in
Chelsea; 9, Benjamin, Aug. 11, 1779, died a young man,
in Georgia; and 10, Edward, March 9, 1783, married
thrice, 1, Jane Goodeno, 2, Cynthia Goodeno, 3, ,
died in Boston.
II. Jonathan, Dec. 25, 1737, married Thankful Howland,
March 19, 1787, removed to Sandwich.
III. Anna, Aug. 18, 1742, died unmarried.
IV. Asenath, Feb. 28, 1738-40, married Linnell.
V. Josiah, Sept. 7, 1745, married 1st, Temperance, daughter
of George Lewis. She died soon after marriage, of con-
sumption, and he married 2d, Abigail, daughter of Nathan-
iel Sturgis. He was with his uncle, Capt. James Churchill,
in the French War, and during the Revolution, was one of
the Home Guard, detailed for the defence of the coast.
He was entitled to a pension, but did not obtain it. He
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 187
was employed fifteen winters in trading voyages to the
Carolinas'.
VI. Edward, Sept. 13, 1749, married Mary, daughter of Seth
Lothrop. He was employed many years by the eccentric
Dr. Abner Hersey, and as a reward for his faithful ser-
vices, the Dr. in one of his early wills, gave him £100.
The Dr. inquired of Edward what disposition he intended
to make of the bequest. "Fit out my daughters and
marry them off," was the inconsiderate reply. The Dr.
could not tolerate even neatness in dress, was indignant at
the reply, altered his will, and Edward lost the money.
Josiah and Edward bought the small estate of John Logge,
(a part of Elder Cobb's great lot) , which they divided, and each
had a house thereon. Both were coopers and small farmers, and
displayed more taste for horticultural and florticultural pursuits
than was common in those days. Both, in early life, went on
feather voyages, a term which few, at the present time, will under-
stand. About a century ago, vessels were fitted out for the coast
of Labrador to collect feathers and eider down. At a certain
season of the year some species of wild fowl shed a part of their
wing feathers, and either cannot fly, or only for a short distance.
On some of the barren islands on that coast, thousands of those
birds congregated. The crews of the vessels would drive them
together, kill them with a short club or a broom made of spruce
branches, and strip off their feathers. Millions of wild fowl were
thus destroyed, and in a few years, their haunts were broken up
by this wholesale slaughter, and their numbers so greatly dimin-
ished that feather voyages became unpi'ofitable and were dis-
continued.
For fourteen years subsequent to 1800 these brothers were
oftener seen together than seperate. Every week day at 11 and
4 o'clock they visited the groceries with a degree of punctuality which
all noticed. Housewives that had no time-pieces, when they saw
them, would say. Uncle Ned and Siah (as they were familiarly
called) have passed, and it is time to set the table. At the close
of his life, Edward became estranged from his brother and would
liave no intercourse whatever with him. This was a great afflic-
tion to Josiah, and no efforts or concessions he could make
effected a reconciliation. Edward had some eccentricities. Per-
haps his long and familiar intercourse with Dr. Hersey had in-
fused that trait into his character. His feelings were strong, and
when he took a dislike he was not easily reconciled. Josiah was
a different man in this respect. He harbored no prejudices
against any one. He was a kind hearted man, and a good neigh-
bor. When young he took an interest in the history of the early
settlements, and remembered many things that his grandfather had
said to him. He stated that all the families of the name of
188 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Childs, in Barnstable, were descendants of the first Richard,
which is probably the fact. He survived his brother, dying at an
advanced age.
COGGIN.
Four of this uame came to New England. John, Sen'r, of
Boston, said to have been the first who opened a store for the sale
of goods in that city, was a ship-owner, and a man of wealth ; he
died in 1658; John Jr., of Boston, son of Humphrey, and a
nephew of John, Sen'r., died in 1674; Thomas was of Taunton
in 1643, died March 4, 1653 ; Henry Coggin was of Boston in
1634, afterwards of Scituate, and removed with the first settlers
to Barnstable in 1639. July 1 1634, three cases, in one of which
Henry, and in another, John Coggin was a party, were referred lo
Gov. Winthrop and three others for adjustment and settlement.
The matters in dispute are not fully stated ; but appear to have
been connected with the settlement of a ship's voyage, in which
Hem-y and John probably had an interest.
Dec. 4, 1638, William Andrews was convicted of making an
assault on Mr. Henry Coggin, striking him several blows and
conspiring against his life. Andrews, as a part of his punishment
was committed, or sold into slavery ; but on the 3d of September
following, he was released, he promising to pay Mr. Henry Coggin
eight pounds.
Feb. 13, 1639-40, Mr. Henry Coggin assigned for 50 shillings
sterling, and 20 bushels of Indian Corn, paid by Manaseth
Kempton, of Plymouth, the services of Ms servant James Glass,*
for the term of five years, from June 14, 1640.
Oct. 14, 1643, he was one of the Committee appointed by the
Court to cause a place or places in Barnstable to be fortified for
the defence of the inhabitants against any sudden assault.
June 5, 1644, he was on the grand jury, and at the same
court he and Mr. Thomas Hinckley took the oath of fidelity.
They had previously taken the same oath at Scituate.
* .James Glass settled in Plymouth. He married Slst Oct., 1645, Mary, daughter of
William Pontus, had Hannah, 2d June, 1647; Wybra, 9th Aug. 1649; Hannah again 24th
Dec. 1651 ; and Mary posthumous. He was a freeman 1648, and was lost in a storm, Sept. 3,
1652, near Plymouth harbor. Roger Glass, a servant of John Crocker, was probably a
brother of James.
li)0 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
The record of his lands in Barnstable was not made till 3d
Feb. 1661-2. His home lot containing ten and one-half acres,
was bounded easterly by Coggins's, now called Great Pond,
southerlj' by the highway, and John Finney's land, westerly by
Henry Bourne's land, and northerly by the meadow. His house
stood near the spot where Sturgis Gorham, Esq., built the house
now owned by the Smiths. The lot originall}' contained eleven
acres and a half, one acre, before the record was made, had been
sold to John Finney. This acre was near the present railroad
crossing, and was bounded on the south by the highway, and on
other sides by the land of Henry Coggiu, deceased.
He also owned four acres of marsh adjoining his home lot ;
four on Jewell's island ; eight of marsh and one acre of upland
at Scorton ; fifty acres of land at the Indian pond ; and two
shares in the Calve's pasture.
He married, perhaps in England, Abigail Bishop. Her
father, probably, never came to New England. Circumstance
favors the supposition that Henry Coggin was a sea captain, and
that his death, June 16, 1649, in England, occurred, not while he
was on a visit to that country, as Mr. Savage supposes but while
pursuing the regular course of his business as a trader between
London and Boston. This is probably the fact. Nothing is
positively known on the subject. The case which he had with
John Tilly shows that he had some connection with ships, and the
fact that he was entited to be called Mr. in Massachusetts, shows
•that he was a man of good standing, not a common sailor. His
widow married John Finney, according to the Church Records,
July 9, 1650, and according to the Colony Records, 10th June,
1650 ; she died 6th May, 1653.
Children of Mr. Henry Coggin.
I. Abigail, born probably in Scituate, about the year 1637.
She married 21st June, 1659, John French, of Billerica.
He was a son of William, and came over in the Defence
with his parents at the age of 5 months. She died soon
after ,her marriage leaving no issue.
II. Thomas, baptized at the Barnstable Church March 2, 1639-
40, died 26th Feb. 1658-9 ; but according to the Colony
Records he was buried 28th Jan. 1658-9. I
III. John, baptized Feb. 12, 1642-3. In 1654 his parents were
dead, and all his brothers and sisters excepting Abigail.
His father-in-law had taken a third wife who had no sympa-
thy for these children. Mar. 1, 1658-9 Mr. Isaac Robinson
and Gyles Rickard, Sen'r., of Plymouth, complained to the
1 1 usually follow the dates on the Church EecoriJs. These are noted in the order in
which they occuiTed. The Town Eecords from which the Colony were copied, hare been
transcribed sevci-al times, and the order in which they are arranged affords no clue for
detecting errors.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 191
Court that these orphan children living with Finney, suffered
wrong in several respects and their case was referred to
Gov. Prence and Mr. Thomas Hinckley to examine. On the
3d of May following, John Coggin having made choice of
Capt. James Cudwerth and Mr. Isaac Robinson, the Court
appointed them his guardians ; but ordered that he should
remain with his father-in-law tOl the June Court, and mean-
time to be Itept at school all the time, excepting six days.
The. Court delayed giving any definite order, to give Mr.
Finney time to make up the accounts of the estate, and
because letters were expected from Mr. Bishop, the grand-
father, who was probably in England. June 7, 1659, all
the lands of Henry Goggin, deceased, were transferred to
the guardians of John. In these proceedings Abigail is not
named. She was then of age and married soon after, as
above stated. ^
April 8, 1664, John Coggin executed a discharge of his lov-
ing friends and guardians, acknowledging himself to be
fully satisfied with their management in relation to himselfr
and his estate. On the 8th of the following June, the
Court declared John Coggin to be "heir apparent" of Henry
Goggin, deceased,* and authorized him to make sale of
the lands that were his father's. The houselot, meadows
adjoining, and on Jewell's island, and shares in the Calve's
Pasture, he sold to his father-in-law, the meadow at Scor-
ton to Capt. Matthew Fuller, and his great lot at Indian
Pond to Wm. Crocker. He married 22d Dec. 1664, Mary
Long, of Charlestown, and had children, Henry and John.
IV. Mary, baptized April 20, 1645, buried May 3, 1645.
V. Henry, baptized Oct. 11, 1646. I find no record of his
death ; he was not living in 1669.
The parties named in connection with this family, were
among the most respectable in this, and in the Mass. Col-
ony.]: The name is written Coggin, Coggan, Cogan, Cog-
gen, and by Mr. Lothrop, Cogain. The records of Mr.
Lothrop's Church in London are lost, but circumstances
make it probable that Mr. Coggin was a member in Eng-
land, and was admitted to fellowship in the Scituate and
Barnstable Church, without any formed proceedings on
record. Circumstances indicate that such were the facts,
not only in regard to Mr. Coggin ; but to other members of
the London Church, who came over and finally settled
in Barnstable. §
JMary Gaunt was a kinsman of Henry Coggin and probably resided in his family. She
married Francis Crooker.
§1 have heretofore suggested that the old name of Coggin's pond be restored. The
present name is indefinite and without meaning. In spelling the name I have followed the
town records. Cogain is perhaps better. Let the station on the Cape Cod Railroad be
called Cogain's Pond station.
COOPER.
Dea. John Cooper was one of the first settlers in Barnstable.
He came to Plymouth about the year 1632, and there married on
the 27th Nov. 1634, Priscilla, widow of William Wright and
daughtei; of Alexander Carpenter,* of Leyden. She had no issue
by either marriage that survived her. In 1683 she removed to
Plymouth where she died Dec. 29, 1689, aged 91. The following
is a copy of her letter of dismission from the Barnstable to the
J'lymouth Church :
"ffor ye Rev'd Elders of ye CCh. of Ct., at Plymouth, to
bee communicated to ye CCh. there, Rev'd and beloved Brethren,
The providence of God having rernoved ye Widow Cooper
A. member of ye CCh of Ct. at Barnstable fro. us to dwell w'th
you ; and she desiring to partake with you of ye good things of
God's house, and to be under yo'r watch and care, and in order
y'r unto to bee dismissed fro. o'er CCh unto you ; y'r fore if
you judge meet to receive her, wee do dismiss her fro. us unto
yo'r holy^ communion ; as one yt has walked orderly while w'th
us, and do commend her to you unto ye grace of God in all you'r
holy Administrations.
In ye name and w'th consent of
ye CCh of Ct. at Barnstable,
Barnst : pr nos,
8 r: 15, 1683, Jonath: Bussel, Pastor.
John Chijiman, Elder. f
* Alexander Carpenter was one of Mr. Bobininson's church at Leyden. Five of his
daughters are named :
I. Anna, also named Agnes, in the Dutch records, called a maid oi "Wrentham, in Eng-
land, married April 30, 1613, Samuel Fuller, afterwards the physician of the Plymouth
Colony. She died early.
II. Julian or Julia Ann, bom 1584, married 23d July, 1612, at Leyden, George Morton,
2d, Manasseth Kempton, of Plymouth, died 19th Feb. 1664-5, aged 81.
III. Alice, bom 1590, married first Constant Southworth, was a widow whea she came over,
married 2d Got. William Bradford, 14th Aug. 1623, and died March 26, 1670, aged 80.
IV. Priscilla, bom 1598, married as above stated.
"V". Mary, according to Mr. Savage, born in 1577 and died unmarried at Plymouth, March
- 19, 1668, aged 90. Mr. Bussell says in 1638, if so she was bom in 1693, a letter of hers
hjs recently been published, giving information respecting the family ; but I cannot at
this moment find it.
t This letter is printed to correspond as nearly with the original as the types usually
found in a printing office will admit. In old manuscripts, th is made like the modem letter
y. Many transcribers of old manuscripts use y instead of th. This practice is ^vrong,
because the character was intended for th not for v.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. l93
Dea. Cooper was admitted a freeman Jan. 1, 1634-5 ; re-
moved to Scituate before 1638 ; and was one of the grantees of
the lands between North and South rivers, made that year. Sept.
3„ 1638, Cooper's island containing 18 acres was granted to him,
which he sold in 1639, to William Wills, and the island bears the
name of the latter, to this day. He was constable of Barnstable
in 1640, and a deputy to the Colony Court in 1642, and '43.
March 24, 1640-1 he was "invested into the office of a Deacon
Mr. Lothrop, Mr. Mayo and Dea. Cobb laying on hands."
His home lot was the fourth west from Coggin's pond. 1,
Henry Coggins containing twelve acres ; 2, Henry Bourne's, eight
acres ; 3, James Hamblin's, twenty acres, and 4, Dea. Cooper's,
containing twenty-four acres. The latter was bounded northerly
by the marsh, easterly by Mr. Groom, J westerly by Isaac Robin-
son, and southerly "running into ye woods." Deacon Cooper's
house was on this lot, and stood near the present location of the
ancient house now owned by William Hinckley and Elijah Childs.
A part of that house is ancient and it is not improbable that it is
the same which was owned by Deacon Cooper. He also owned
the meadow on the north of his home-lot, of the same width with
the upland and extending north to the great creek ; a share in the
Calve's Pasture containing half an acre ; a little neck of land
pointing southerly into the Great Pond, with eight acres of
upland against it, bounded northerly by a great swamp ; and a
neck of land between the Great and Shoal ponds. The first
named neck of land he sold May 9, 1656, to Roger Goodspeed,
and the other to John Hall 14th Feb. 1660-1.
Dea. Cooper had no children. His sister Lydia married 25th
Dec. 1635, Nathaniel Morton, son of George, and Secretary of
the Colony from 1645, till he died June 29, 1685, and the author
of that well known work, the New England's Memorial. Dea.
Cooper was the brother-in-law of the Secretary, and his wife,
Priscilla, was his aunt. She was also nearly related to the Brad-
ford and Fuller families. Mr. Dean says that Dea. Cooper in his
will, gave half of his estate to the Barnstable Church and. half to
his sister Lydia, after the decease of his wife. He was not a
man of large estate and it is not probable that much remained at
the death of his widow.
A small pond in the northerly part of his home-lot is still
known as Cooper's pond, and a small island on the north thereof
is called by his name. A marsh island at the north of Rendevous
X Who this Mr. Groom was I am unable to ascertain. It seems that in 1653, when the
record of Dea. Cooper's land was made, that he owned a part of the land, recorded proba-
bly the next year 1654, as the property of James Hamblin. There was a family of that
name in Middlesex County. There was a Sa'inuel, 61 Salisbury, in 1850, a mariner, dignified
■iTlth the prefix of Mr. who went home to London before 16S8. Was he that Quaker who
published iu 1676 "A Glass for the people of N. B." Perhaps the name is Green. An
Isaac Green, a suiTcyor, was early of Barnstable and removed to Falmouth at the settle-
ment of that tomi and had a family thcrp.
194 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Creek is also called Cooper's island ; but I think the name is more
modern than the time of Dea. Cooper. Great or Nine Mile Pond
is also called Cooper's Pond on the record — a good name — and if
revived would help preserve the memory of one of the best men
among the settlers of Barnstable. §
§ There was another man of the name of John Cooper in the Colony — a man who did
not sustain the excellent character of Dea. John of Barnstable» and the reader of the
Colony records must be careful not to confound the two.
COLEMAN.
Edward Coleman, of Boston, and Margaret, daughter of
Thomas Lumbard, of Barnstable, were married at Eastham by
Mr. France, Oct. 27, 1648. He was of Boston in 1655, and
probably came to Barnstable soon after that date. He was
admitted an inhabitant Oct. 3, 1662, and was living 26th March,
1690, when the town granted 25 acres of land at "Yannows" to
his son Edward, "on the condition that he do his utmost for the
maintainance of his father and mother and the rest of the family."
This grant was at the south-east corner of the town, bounded
easterly by the bounds of Yarmouth, "south by the harbor at
Yannows," west by the Hallett land, and north by the commons.
Margaret Coleman was living Nov. 12, 1714 ; but Edward Senior
and Junior were then both dead.
Children of Edward Coleman, born in Boston.
I. Edward. The date of his birth was probably 1649. He
died in 1714, leaving no issue, and his estate was divided to
his mother Margaret ; his sister Widow Elizabeth Hadaway ;
his sister Sarah Coleman, and the children of his only
brother James Coleman.
II. Elizabeth, born 28th 11 mo. 1651, was the second wife of
the first John Hadaway, whom she married in Yarmouth,
May 1, 1672.
III. Mary, born 12th Sept. 1653.
IV. Martha, born 8th Aug. 1655.
V. Sarah, probably born in Barnstable, unmarried in 1714.
VI. James, probably born in Barnstable, married Patience,
daughter of James Cobb. He was not living in 1714, and
his widow married 10th Sept. 1715, Thomas Lumbard.
She died March 30, 1747, aged 78 years.
Children of James Coleman.
I. Edward, 25th Oct. 1695, married Thankful Lumbard, 16th
Sept. 1716. The names of his children I do not find on the
196 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
town records. His son Edward was baptized Nov. 7, 1725,
and his daughter Miriara Oct. 29, 1727. The latter married
Dec. 13, 1750, Joseph Bacon, Jr.
II. Martha, 4th March, 1698, married Sept. 25, 1718, Capt.
John Phinney, the founder of Gorham, Maine. She had
nine children, viz : 4 in Barnstable ; 3 in Portland ; and 2
in Gorham.
III. Thanljful, 7th Feb. 1699-1700, married Jan. 16, 1722-3,
Robert Claghorn, and died April 1770, aged 70 years and 2
months. )
IV. A son, 26th Feb. 1702-3, died same diy.
V. James, 11th April, 1704, married March 12, 1727-8 Pati-
ence, daughter of Dea. John Phinney. He married 2d
Martha (Phinney.) His children were Martha, born Jan.
31, 1758-9, probably died young. By his second wife,
Martha again, March 19, 1732-3. 3, James, Aug. 8, 1735,
njarried, Sept. 24, 1761, Zerviah Thomas, and June 28,
1763, Ann Lumbard. 4, John, May 14, 1739, removed to
Granville, N. S. married Feb. 19, 1764, Abigail, daughter
of Capt. -James Delap. He lived to be aged, and has
descendants in Nova Scotia. 5, Mary, born March 27,
1739, married March 15, 1763, David Howland. Mr.
James Coleman died April 16, 1781, aged 77, and his widow
Feb. 29, 1784, aged 80.
VI. Jolm, born 26th Sept. 1706, married Aug. 5, 1736, Reliance,
widow of Eleazer Cobb. She died June 11, 1742, aged 36,
and he married 2d, Mary Hamblin, Aug. 2, 1743. He
resided in the ancient Samuel Cobb house till Nov. 20, 1746,
when he removed to South Sea. His children were all
baptized at the East Church, namelv : Martha, June 19,
1737; John, Oct. 29, 1738; Mary, May 11, 1740; Mary
again, August 5, 1744; Thomas, November 8, 1747;
Nathaniel, Sept. 17, 1749 ; Zaccheus, Feb, 24, 1750-1 ;
Reliance, April 26, 1752. Nathaniel of this family was
insane tlie latter part of his life. He believed the land had
everywhere become soft and mu-y. He carried a very long
cane with a ram's horn on the upper end, and his hat was
ornamented with feathers of various colors, stuck under the
band. Notwithstanding his constant fear of sinliing, he was
good natvured, cheerful, and inoffensive. As he walked
thro' the streets, feeling his way, with his left foot always
in advance of his right, he would sing these words, "Bacon's
got home and brought me a new ram's horn, a new ram's
horn, a new ram's horn."
VII. Patience, 6th May, 1709, married June 20, 1732, James
Lothrop.
VIII. Ebenezer, 15th Aug. 1711.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 197
The town records respecting this family are defective. The
deficiencies, I presume, may be supplied from the Church and
Probate records.
Edward Coleman built the first house at Hyannis. At that
time all the southerly part of Barnstable was called "South Sea,"
and the Indians resident there, "South Sea Indians." The earli-
est settlers at South Sea were John Thompson, who sold his land
to John Lovell, Roger Goodspeed, Jona Hatch, Thomas Bumpas,
and Joshua Lumbert. The first building erected by the whites
was a warehouse by Nicholas Davis, near where Timothy Baker's
store now stands, and on land presented to him by the Sachem
Hianna.
In 1697 the "South Sea" men were Thomas Macy, John,
Benjamin, and Ebenezer Goodspeed, sons of Roger ; John Lovell,
and his sons John, James, William, and Andrew ; John Issum,
Thomas Bumpass, Dollar Davis, Thomas Lewis, Joshua Lumbert,
John Lianell, John Phinney, Jr., Edward Lewis, Joseph Lothrop,
Jr., John Lewis, and Edward Coleman.
Soon after this date the Hallett, Crowell, Bearse, and Clag-
horn families settled at South Sea. Jouatlian Lewis, who, accord-
ing to tradition, was the first settler in the present village of
Hyannis, probably did not build his house before his marriage in
1703. The foregoing statement shows that Edward Coleman was
the first settler at Hyannis. His house was at the south-east
corner of the town, not far from Baxter's wharf.
The Indian villages at South Sea, beginning at the south-west
corner of the town were, 1st, Cotuit or Satuite, the present name ;
2d, Mistic, now Marston's Mills ; 3, Cot-o-ches-et, now Osterville ;
4, Shon-co-net, now corrupted into Skunknet ; 5, Che-qua-quet,
or Wee-qua-quet, now Centreville and Hyannis Port ; 6, Tam-a-
hap-pa-see-a-kon. This was the name of the brook, now known
as Baxter's Mill Pond and River. The lands in the vicinity were
probably known by the same name. Tliis was the uniform prac-
tice of the Indians, and it was not probably departed from in this
case. The name being a long one, and difficult; to pronounce was
dropped, and the name of the Sachem adopted. As -I intend
devoting an article to this name, I will here make only one
remark. In writing this name all the early writers, excepting
Thacher, dropped the aspirate H at the beginning, and wrote the
name lyanough, Yanno, or J anno. The popular pronunciation of
the name indicates that the orthography of Mr. Thacher's Hianno,
is the best.
All the Indian names that I have succeeded in translating
are descriptive terms, suggested by some physical peculiarity of
the region to which they were applied. Cotuit or Satuit means
"cold brook," and was so named because there are many springs
of cool water in the vicinity of the pond and brook of tihat name.
198 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
There is a brook of the same name in Scituate, from which that
town derives its name. Mistic is a name that is forgotten and
lost, by the people who reside in that vicinity. Marston's Mills
is not an improvement on the Indian name.
Cot-o-che-set. The manner in which this name is written on
the town records, has probably had an influence in bringing it into
disuse. For more than half a century it was the popular name of
Oyster Island village. The island was so named on account of
the abundance of Oysters found in its vicinity — a very appropriate
name for the island ; but not applicable to the main land. When
the post-ofHce was established in the village, about thirty years
ago, it was called Osterville, for what good reason is unknown.
The old name Cot-o-che-set, is a better one, more expressive, and
at the time of the change, was familiar to many of the aged.
Skon-ko-net, perhaps a derivative of Kong-kont, the crow,
and so called because those birds frequent that region. This
name is now incorrectly written and pronounced Skunknet. Only
the northerly and westerly part of the tract formerly so-called is
now so designated. The western branch of the Skon-ke-net river
is now known as Bump's river, and the easterly as Phinney's mill
brook.
The changing of a few letters in an Indian name, often
makes a redical change in the meaning of the word. Che-qua-
quet signifies "the edge of a forest." The large knurls on the
oak were called by the same name. As these abound more on
the edge than in the center of a forest, it is not surprising that in
a language containing so few words as the Indian, that both
shoukl be called by the same name. The termination, "et," was
applied to places near the water, so that the literal meaning of
Che-qua-quet seems to be "a village situate on the edge of the
forest and by the sea-shore." This is descriptive of the place,
and probably the true signification of the name.
The village was by Bourne, as quoted, Gooken, called Wee-
qua-keet, a different name, Wee-koh-quat, is "fair weather," and
with the terminal "et," instead of "at," the meaning would \je
fair weather harbor or river. Mr. Bourne's authority is not to be
rejected for slight reasons. In the records, where the name
frequently occurs, it is uniformly written Che-qua-quet, with some
unimportant variations in the orthography — never Wee-qua-keet.
The popular pronunciation of the name is uniformly Che or Cha,
not Wee-qua-quet. This is not conclusive ; but taken in connec-
tion with the records, I think it settles the question in favor of
Che-qua-quet as the best authorized spelling of the name.
When the post-office was established, the old name was
dropped and the French Centreville adopted. This is not so
objectionable as Osterville, yet it is no improvement on the old.
There is, however, one objection ; there are many post-offices of
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 199
that name, and for that reason mail matter is now liable to be
mis-sent. This objection would not be applicable to the name
Che-qua-quet.*
*For the definition of Che-qua-qiiet and many other Indian names, I am indebted to
an intelligent Indian Chief irom the West. He had a perfect knowledge of his native tongue
which was a dialect of the language spoken by the Massachusetts Indians. He could
read withoutmucli difficulty Eliot's ludiau bible, and Cotton's vocabulary. He was very
cautious in giving his opinion. The names of places were often spelt so diflerently from
the manner in which he was accustomed to write the equivalent words that he did not
always recognize them. He asked me several times if the pronunciation of the first sylable
of Che-qua-quet was Che or Tshe, not Wee, because the meaning of the name depended on
that pronunciation. The meaning of the name of a pond in Mashpee, which be gave me,
is confirmed by Mr. Marston, the Indian superintendent, as it« tinae meaning. I have also
attempted to obtain information from members of the Penobscot tribe, out with little
CROCKER.
Two brothers named John and William Crocker, were among
the first settlers in Barnstable, William came with Mr. Lothrop
and his church Oct. 21, 1639, and John the following spring.
There was also a Francis Crocker of Barnstable, able to bear
arms, Aug. 1643. He was one of the soldiers in the Narraganset
Expedition, sent from Barnstable Aug. 1645. He married in
1647, Mary Grant "a kinswoman of Mr. Goggain of Barn-
stable,"* and removed to Scituate, and from thence to Marshfield.
He had a family, and his descendents now write their name
Crocker.
John Crocker, the elder brother, left no family ; but William's
posterity are very numerous. Perhaps no one of the first comers,
has more descendants now living. A large majority of all in the
United States, and in the British Provinces of the name, trace
their descent from Dea. William of Barnstable. The descendants
of Francis are not numerous. A Thomas Crocker, born in 1633,
settled in New London and had a family. Widow Anne Crocker
of Scituate, had a son Moses born in 1650, but it does not appear
that he has any descendants. Mr. Savage names an Edward of
Boston, who was the public executioner in 1684, and a Daniel
who married in 1660, but these were perhaps descendants of
Francis.
It is said, on how good authority I have not ascertained, that
John and William Crocker came over in 1634, either in the same
ship with Rev. Mr. JjOthrop, or in another that sailed about the
same time, and that they stopped in Roxbury before they settled
in Scituate. Th6y did not remain long in Roxbury, for their
*The renowned Capt. ^obn Smith, probably the first white who visited Barnstable har-
bor, wrote this name as here spelled. The town in England ii'om which our town was
na)aed is now written Barnstaple. On his return from his voyage in 1614, he presented to
Prince Charles a schedule of Indian names of places, and recommended new ones. For
Naembeck, (probably Naumkeag, Salem) he proposed the name of Bastable, for Chaw-tim
(Shaume) part of Sandwich, Barrwick, (forAccomack, Plymouth, &c. A few of the new
names are retained. Mr. John BuLey (probably John Bursley) afterwards of Barnstable,
owned one-fourth of the two ships which Capt. bmith commanded in 1614.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF UAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 201
names do not appear on the Massachusetts Colony Records.
Crocker or Croker as the name is usually written in England,
is very ancient. An old proverbial distich record that,
"Crosker, Crewys, and Copplestone,
When the Conqueror came, were at home."
The family of Crocker, originally seated at Crocker's Hale,
and Crokern. For, in Devonshire, became possessed of Lineham,
by marriage with the heirs of Churchill. The genealogy of the
Crokers of Lineham is accurately recorded and exhibits a descent
of eleven John Crockers in almost uninterrupted succession.
Members of the family removed to Cornwall, Waterford, and
other places. (See Bui-ke.)
JOHN CROCKER.
It incidentally appears by Mr. Lothrop's church records, that
John Crocker was an inhabitant of Scituate in 1636. Feb. 1,
1638-9, he and other inhabitants of Scituate took the oath of
allegiance. March 3, 1639-40, he is called of Scituate, but he
probably removed soon after this date to Barnstable. Mr. Deane
says he probably did not remove till 1654 ; but this is a mistake,
for he was certainly of Barnstable Aug. 1643. The account
given by Mr. Deane of his family, is erroneous and the fault is
perhaps chargeable to his printer, and not to the author, the name
of John having been inadvertantly substituted bj' the printer for
that of William. His wife's name was Joan or Jane. The date
of his marriage does not appear on record, probably not till late
in life. In Mr. Lothrop's list of the householders in Scituate his
name does not occur, making it probable that he was not married
till after 1637. If he had any children they all died young, for
he had none living at his death in 1669.
The farm of John Crocker, now owned by the descendants
of his brother William, is at the north-east corner of the West
Parish in Barnstable, and is thus described on the town records :
"Forty acres of upland, more or less, bounded easterly by
Goodman Bearse, westerly by Mr. Dimmock, northerly by the
marsh, and southerly into the woods." He also owned forty
acres of salt marsh adjoining his farm on the north ; and thirty
acres of upland at the Indian p(md, the later he sold 24th Feb.
1662-3, to John Thompson. Feb. 10, 1668-9, (the day on which
he executed his will) Abraham Blush conveyed to him for £5,10,
his great lot containing forty acres of upland and six of marsh.
This lot is situated on the east side of Scorton Hill, and is now
known as the Bodfish farm. By Blush's deed it appears that John
Crocker had formerly owned meadow in that vicinity, then owned
by Edward Fitzrandolph.
John Crocker was propounded to be a freeman June 6, 1649,
and admitted on the 4th of June following. He was a juryman
in 1647, '50 and '54; and surveyor of the liighways in 1668.
202 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLB FAMILIES.
June 6, 1649, he was licensed to keep an ordinary, tiie name by
which taverns or public houses were then known.
March 2, 1646-7 he made a complaint against Thomas Shaw,
which is entered on the Colony Records, and it incidentally fur-
nishes some information that is of interest. This is the first crimi-
nal complaint made against a Barnstable man, and is interesting
on that account. It shows that John Crocker was a good-liver,
that his house was either pallisade built, or surrounded by a
pallisade ; and that small, as well as large offenders were
promptly and severely dealt with. (See Casely No. 33.)
"At a General Court holden March 2d, in the x x i j th year
of his Maj'etts now Raigne, of England, &c., 1646-7.
At this Court John Crocker compl. against Thomas Shawe
for coming into his house by putting aside some loose pallizadoes
on the Lords day, about the middle of the day, and tooke and
carried out of his said house some venison, some beefe, some
butter, cheese, bread, and tobacco, to the value of x i i d, which
the said Thomas Shaw openly in publike Court confessed, sub-
mitting himself to the censure of the Court ; whereupon, his
sureties being released, he was committed to the Marshall's
charge ; and the Court censured him to make satisfaction for the
goods stolen, 1 sh., being so valued, and 14 s, 4 d, a peece to the
two men that attended on him to the Court, and to be publikely
whipt at the post, which was accordingly don by the publike
officer."
John Crocker's house stood near the ancient dwelling-house
recently occupied by Joseph and Prince Crocker deceased. Per-
haps that house was originally John Crocker's, enlarged by its
subsequent owners. It appears by the above extract that the
house was either pallisade built or was surrounded by pallisade
fence. The nine houses first built in Scituate were small pallisade
houses and intended only as temporary residences. They were
not built as the log-houses at the West are built, by piling logs
horizontally over each other ; but with small poles, placed in
paralled rows, and filled in with stones and clay. Some of the
better kinds were plastered. The I'oofs were thatched with the
long sedge that grows abundantly near the creeks in the salt
meadows. The fire-place was built of stone, and the chimney of
sticks piled like a cob-house and plastered on the inside with clay.
Straw or thatch served for a floor and a carpet. The south-east
slope of a hill, near water, was usually selected by the first
settlers on which to place their dwellings. By digging into the
hill-side a secure back to the fire-place was obtained and the labor
of building one side diminished. As a substitute for glass, oiled
paper was used. Such houses were called by some of the early
writers booths, that is a shelter made of slight materials for tem-
porary purposes. A few such houses were put up in Barnstable,
by those who came with Mr. Lothrop in October, 1639. Many of
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 203
those who came in the spring of that year had good substantial
frame-houses. A saw mill had then been erected in Scituate and
lumber, for covering and finishing buildings, could be cheaply
procured. Mr. Hull, Mr. Mayo, Thos. Lumbert, Mr. Dimmock,
and others had frame-houses. According to tradition preserved
in the family, the first house built by Gov. Hinckley, and that by
his father Samuel, were on the east side of Goggins' pond, had
thatched roofs, and were not much better than the booths above
described, yet they were the only houses they had for several
years.
It is doubtful whether the first comers ever built any houses
of the description now known as log-houses. Block houses of a
similar construction to a log-house, were built early. They were
constructed of hewn timbers, two stories high, and adapted for
defence against Indian hostilities as well as for a residence. A
block house was built in Yarmouth ; but in- Barnstable, the lower
stories of all the fortification houses were of stone, and have
already been described.
Some of the pallisade houses built by the first settlers, were
the most comfortable and durable houses built. Elder John
Chipman's, I believe, was so constructed, Mr. John Crow's, of
Yarmouth, certainly was, and stood nearly two centuries, required
but little repair, and, in fact, the recent owners did not know that
it was so constructed till it was taken down. This house was
built by taking large sticks of timber for sills and plates, boring
two paralled rows of holes in each, about six inches apart, except-
ing where doors or windows were to be placed, and filling between
with stones and clay. This formed the walls of the house, which
were plastered with shell mortar inside and out. The Crowell
house was afterwards clap boarded, which concealed the original
construction from sight.
Jolin Crocker's house probably was not so constructed,
because it would be difficult for any one to have removed the
pallisadoes and entered the house in the manner described.
Many of the early settlers built a pallisade around their houses,
and John Crocker probably did, as a defence against the Indians,
and to keep out intruders and wild beasts. Such pallisades were
built of small logs 12 or 15 feet long, sharpened at each end and
set or driven into the ground side by side, so as to form a fence
ten feet high, which it would be difficult for man or beast to
scale.
He died in 1669 leaving a wife Jane, but no children. After
providing for his widow he gave his estate to the sons of his
brother William, and appointed his nephew Job, his executor.
The latter came into possession of the old homestead, and it is
now owned by his descendants.
He was a very different man from his brother Dea. William.
204 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
He was illiterate, kept a public house where it was customary in
early times, for a certain class of people, found in all commu-
nities, to assemble to drink, and indulge in low and vicious
conversation. Such company and such associations never im-
prove the temper or moral character of a man, or add anything to
his respectable standing in society. His treatment of his servant
Roger Glass, a very worthy young man, shows that he was a man,
"In whose veins the milk of human kindness did not flow." That
he belonged to Mr. Lothrop's church, does not appear. He was
one of the pioneer settlers in Scituate and in Barnstable. He
was not a perfect man. His ashes rest in the old burying-ground
beside thosa of the fathers where it will be well to let them rest
in peace.
William Crocker, a younger brother of John, joined Mr.
Lothrop's church in Scituate Dec. 25, 1636. He came to Barn-
stable Oct. 21, 1639, and his daughter Elizabeth, baptized Dec.
22, 1639, is the fourth on the list, showing that he was among the
first who came. He built a frame house in Scituate in 1636 — the
forty-fourth built in that town. June 5, 1644, he was propounded
a freeman, but does not appear to have been admitted till after
1652. He was constable of Barnstable in 1644; on the grand
jury in 1654, '55, '57, '61, '67 and '75 ; selectman in 1668 ;
deputy to the Colony Court in 1670, 71, and 74 ; and surveyor of
highways 1673. In the year 1675 he was on the jury which
condemned the murderers of John Sassamon, secretary of King
Phillip. He was one of the leading men in early times and was
often employed in the business of the town and in settling the
estates of deceased persons.
He probably settled first in the easterly part of the town,
and removed to West Barnstable about the year 1643. The loss
of the early records makes it difficult to decide, but it is probable
that his first house in Barnstable was on the lot next west of
Henry Bourne's. He had a large landed estate, and for many
years was perhaps the richest man in town. His sons were all
men of wealth. In 1703 his son Joseph was the owner of the
largest estate in Barnstable.
In 1655, Dea. William Crocker owned one hundred and
twenty-six acres of upland, and twenty-two acres of meadow at
West Barnstable, and forty acres of upland at the Indian ponds.*
The West Barnstable farm was bounded easterly by the farm of
John Smith, now known as the Otis farm, and by the farm of
Samuel Hinckley, now owned by Levi L. Goodspeed, southerly
t Tbe Indian ponds are three in number, and form the head waters of the stream now
known as Marston's Mill river. Excepting where the water was very high, all these ponds
did "not originally connect with the mill stream. They were called the Indian I'ouds
because the Indian land reservation was on their borders. On the town records there is an
entry of five dollars, paid for permanently closing one of the passages ; and, at some former
time a new outlet was excavated at a very considerable expense, probably for the purpose
of admitting herring.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 205
it extended into the woods. The southerly part of the farm, in
1654, was bounded on the west by the commons, and the northerlj'
part by lands then owned by Governor Bodfish, and afterwards
by Lieut. John Howland. He afterwards added largely to his
West Barnstable farm, and to the farm at the Indian pond, the
latter containing one hundred acres at his death. The West
Barnstable farm was two miles in length from north to south,
extending from the salt meadows on the waters at Barnstable
harbor to the neighborhood of the West Barnstable meeting-
house. The lands he first occupied were the south-easterly part
of the farm, the old stone house which, according to tradition,
was his first residence, was about a fourth of a mile easterly from
the West Barnstable church. This stone or fortification house
was taken down many years ago. A few aged persons remember
to have seen it in a ruinous state. This part of the farm his son
Josiah afterwards owned. There was another stone house on the
south-westerly part of the farm owned by the descendants of
Eleazer. This was talsen down about the year 1815. It was
called the old Stone Fort, and stood where Capt. Josiah Fish's
house now stands. It was about 25 feet in front and 20 feet on
the rear. The walls of the lower story were built of rough stones
laid in clay mortar, and nearly three feet in thickness. The
upper story was of wood and projected over the lower on the
front, about three feet. In this projection were a number of loop
holes about six inches square, closed by small trap doors. The
windows in the lower story were high and narrow. These and
the loop holes in the projection, were intende*& to be used as port-
holes, should the building be assaulted by hostile Indians. The
earliest known occupant, to any now living, was Mr. Benoni
Crocker, a great-grand-son of Dea. William. He made a two
story addition on the south-side, which was occupied by his son
Barnabas.
Dea. William Crocker married in 1636 Alice. She was living
in 1683, was the mother of all his children ; but died soon after
that date. He married second Patience, widow of Robert Parker
and a daughter of Elder Henry Cobb. He died in the fall of
1692. His age is not stated, but he was propably about 80 years
of age. His will is printed below at full length. It is a docu-
ment that will be interesting to his descendants, and to the public
as a specimen of the manner in which those instruments were
drawn up iii olden times.
The last will and testament of Deacon William Crocker of
Barnstable, in New England.
The 6th day of September Anno Dom. 1692 I, William
Crocker of Barnstable, being sick and weak in body but throu ye
mercy of God of disposing mind and memory, and knowing ye
uncertainty of this life on earth, and being desirous to settle
206 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
things in order, do make tliis my last will and testament in man-
ner and forme following, viz : first and principally, I give and
committ my soul to God in Jesus Christ my Saviour and Redeemer
throw whose pretious death and merrits I hope to find ye free
pardon and remition of all my sinnes, and everlasting salvation,
and my body to ye earth from whence it was talien, to be buried
in such decent manner as to my Executor hereafter named, shall
seem meet and convenient, and as touching my wordly estate
which God hath in mercy lent unto me, my will is to bestow ye
same as hereafter is expressed, and I do hereby revoke and make
void all wills by me formerly made and declared and appoint this
to be my last will and testament.
Imprimus my will is that all those debts and duties which I
owe in right or conscience to any person or persons whatsoever,
shall be well and truly contented and paid when convenient by my
Executor.
Itt. I give and bequeath unto Patience my loving wife,
besides ye liberty to dispose of all ye estate which she brought
with her or had at ye time of our intermarriage, and besides ye
forty pounds I then promised to give her, in case she should sur-
vive me, I give unto her my best bedd and bedstead with all ye
ffurniture thereto belonging.
Itt. I give and bequeath to my eldest son John Crocker my
now dwelling house and lands both upland and ffresh meadows
adjoyning and belonging thereunto now and of late under my
occupation and improvement to have and to hold to him his heirs
and assignes foreve^he or they paying to ye s'd Patience my wife
twenty pounds of ye fores'd forty pounds she is to receive, and I
do also hereby confirm to him my son John his heirs and assignes
forever all those parcels of land I heretofore gave unto him and
are well known to have been in his quiet possession for sundry
years ; I further also give and bequeath to him my son John my
two oxen which he hath had in his posession some years.
Itt. I give and bequeath unto my son Job Crocker besides ye
land I heretofore gave him and known to be in his possession,
twenty acres of that fifty acres at ye ponds which I purchased of
John Coggin to have and to hold to him my son Job his heirs and
assignes forever and .that he chuse it on which side of s'd land he
please.
Itt. I will and bequeath to my sons Josiah and Eliazer
Crocker besides those lands I heretofore gave to ea'eh of them
and are in their particular knowne possession, all my upland at
the marsh together with all ye marsh adjoining thereunto, (except
such particular parcel or parcels thereof as I have heretofore
given and is possest of late by anj' other or is in these presents
hereafter mentioned,) to be equally divided between them ye s'd
Josiah and Eliazer to have and to hold to them their heirs and
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. '201
assignes forever : Each of them ye s'd Josiah and Eliazer paying
seven pounds and ten shillings apiece to ye s'd Patience in paying
of ye forty pounds above mentioned. And I further will and
bequeath to my sons Josiah and Eliazer to each of them one
cow. '
Itt. I will and bequeath unto my son Joseph Crocker (besides
ye two parcels of upland and one parcel of marsh which I hereto-
fore gave him and is known to be in his possession ye house and
land which he hired of me and now lives on) that is to say, so
much of my s'd land as he hath now fenced in ; together with that
parcel of marsh which he hath from year to year of late hired of
me ; to have and to hold to him ye s'd Joseph his heirs and
assignes forever : he or they paying five pounds to ye s'd Patience
to make up ye full of s'd forty pounds I promised to her as
above s'd.
Itt. I give and bequeath all ye rest of my lands att ye ponds
to my grandsons, viz : to Nathaniel, ye son of John Crocker,
Samuel, ye son of Job Crocker, and Thomas, ye son of Josiah
Crocker to be equally divided between them and to their and each
of their heirs and assignes forever.
Itt. my will is and I do hereby constitute and appoint my
trusty and well beloved son Job Crocker to be my sole executor to
see this my last will and testament to be performed, with whom I
leave all ye residue of my estate in whatsoever it be, to be equally
distributed amongst all my children unless I shall signifie my
minde to have such part or parts thereof to be disposed to any in
particular.
In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and seal.
On my further consideration I signifie my mind before ye
ensealing hereof and it is my will that Mr. Russell shall have my
two steers which are att Isaac Howlands and that Mr. Thomas
Hinckly shall have my nagro boy if he please he paying fourteen
pounds to my Executor for him.
WILLIAM CROCKER. [Seal. J
Signed Sealed and declared
In presence of
SAMUEL CHIPMAN,
MERCY CHIPMAN.
Samuel Chipman and Mercy Chipman whose hands are sett
as witnesses to this will made oath in Court October ye 19 : 1692,
that they did see the above said William Crocker now deceased
sign seal and declare this above written to be his last will and
testament.
JOSEPH LOTHROP : c 1.
Examined and duly compared with ye original will and en-
tered October ye 22, 1692.
Attest: JOSEPH LOTHROP, Recorder.
208 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
The division which Deacon Crocker made of his estate in the
foregoing will, may perhaps, be better understood by the follow-
ing description of the shares of each of his five sons. Job had
the estate which was his uncle John's homestead, and his father
therefore gives him a larg'er proportion of his estate, not imme-
diately connected with the West Barnstable farm.
John had the great lot of his uncle John, on which he had a
house, and therefore, there was no immediate need that he should
be provided for. For his other four sons he had provided houses,
or they had built on his land.
The present road running north from the "West Barnstable
Meeting House, to the Cape Cod Rail Road Depot, divides Dea.
Crocker's farm into two nearly equal parts. On the east of the
road, Josiah had the south part, excepting the portion given to
John, and Joseph the north. On the west side, John had the
south part, including a strip running north to the meadows, and a
strip on the east, adjoining Josiah's land, where Nathaniel
Crocker afterwards lived, and Eleazer the north-westerly part.
A question arises which will be hereafter considered, and that is,
whether or not John's portion extended far enough west to include
the old stone fort.
Dea. Crocker died in good old age. For many years he was
deacon of the Barnstable Church, and living an exemplary and
pious life. He has a clean record. Nothing dishonest or dis-
honorable was ever laid to his charge. Men who acquire great
wealth, often make enemies of the envioas ; but Dea. Crocker
appears to have been beloved and respected by all. When he
removed to West Barnstable, the lands there had only a nominal
value. He was industrious, economical, and a good manager.
His boys were as industrious and as prudent as the father, and
that was the whole secret of their becoming wealthy. In early
colonial times a large family was considered a great blessing in a
jjecuniary point of view. The boys assisted the father on the
farm, and at seventeen were able to do the work of a man. The
girls were also brought up to more than earn their own living.
They assisted the mother, spun and wove the flax and the wool,
and made their own and their brother's garments, and in hay time
and at harvest assisted their brothers. A man with a large family
of healthy children was then the most independent of men.
From his farm and his household he obtained an abundance of the
prime necessaries of life. The surplus which he sold was more
than sufficient to pay the bills of the mechanic, and to buy the
few articles of foreign growth and manufacture then required.
There was very little money in circulation, and very little was
needed. Taxes were payable in agricultural products, at a rate
fixed by law, and if lands or property were sold, without it was
expressly stipulated in the contract, that payment should be made
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 209
in silver money, it was a barter trade, payable in produce at the
"prices current with the merchants."
Aged people often remark that theu- ancestors estimated that
every son born to them added to their wealth a £100, and of
every daughter £50. However heterodox this theory may now
appear to parents, or to political economists, it was undoubtedly
true in early times. The Crocker's, with few exceptions, all mar-
ried in early life, had large families, and excepting the few who
tried to live by trade or speculation, acquired good estates, lived
comfortably, and were respectable and honorable members of
society.
[The genealogies of the Crocker, Gorham, Hallett, and
several other families, I have drawn up in the manner recom-
mended in the Genealogical Register, it is neccessary to transcribe
them, because the columns of a newspaper are too narrow for
such kind of composition, and because the varieties of type
required are not kept in a newspaper office. As the same name
so frequently occurs in the Crocker family, I shall preserve the
serial number in Arabic or common figures, using the Roman
numerals as heretofore, to distinguish members of the same fami-
ly. John and Benjamin are names that frequently occur, and
without the serial numbers it will be diflScult to distinguish them.
At one time there were four John Crocker's in Barnstable, all
householders and heads of families. They were, from necessity,
distinguished by nick-names ; but the use of the serial number
will render the repetition of those names unnecessary.]
Family of Dea. William Crocker.
Dea. William Crocker married for his first wife, Alice, who
was the mother of all his children. She was living in 1683, but
died soon after that date. He married for his second wife.
Patience, widow of Robert Parker and daughter of Elder Henry
Cobb. He died Sept. 1692, aged probably 80 years. His
children were :
2. I. John, born in Scityiate May 1, 1637, baptized June 11,
1637.
8. II. Elizabeth, born in Scituate Sept. 22, 1639, baptized in
Barnstable, Dec. 22, 1639. She was his only daughter and
died in Barnstable unmarried. May 1658, in the 19th year
of her age.
4. III. Samael, born in Barnstable, June 3, 1642, baptized
same day. He died Dec. 1681.
5. IV". Job, born March 9, 1644-5, baptized same day.
6. v. Josiah, born Sept. 19, 1647, baptized same day.
It seemed improbable that Dea. Crocker had three
children born in succession on the sabbath, and that each was
baptized on the day of its birth. Mr. Lothrop, the pastor of the
210 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
church, so records the baptisms, and there is no reason to question
his accuracy. Gov. Hinckley so makes his return to the Colony
Court, and David Crocker, Esq., one of the early town clerks, so
transcribes the earlier records. A single instance of this charac-
ter was noticed in the family of Austin Bearse, (No. 12) and the
comments made thereon are equally applicable to this case.
7. VI. Eleazer, born July 21, 1650.
8. VII. Joseph, born 1654.
2. John Crocker, eldest son of Dea. William, resided
at West Barnstable. His father, in his will, gave him the south-
westerly part of his farm, and the dwelling-liouse in which he
then lived. John Crocker had, at tliat time, been a married man
thirty-three years, and had children and grand-children, and
owned lands and a dwelling-house in his own right, independent
of the property bequeathed to him by his father. He owned the
Bodfish farm, set off to him as his portion of his uncle John's
estate, on which there was a dwelling house. One half of that
farm he conveyed by deed to his son Jonathan, through whom it
came into possession of the Bodfish family.
The lands bequeathed by Dea. William to his son Eleazer,
are not clearly defined in the will. Eleazer owned the lands south
of the Dexter farm, on Dexter's, now called Fish's Lane, bounded
west by the land of Joseph Bodfish, Sen'r, including the land on
which the Stone Fort stood. I infer from this, that the house
named in the will of Dea. William, as then in the occupancy of
Eleazer, was the old iStone Fort, consequently it was not the
house given to his son John. Anciently there was another stone
house on the Crocker farm, standing about a fourth of a mile
easterly from the West Barnstable Church. This was probably
built about the year 1643, and as it was on his first grant of land
at West Barnstable, made to Dea. William, it is just to infer that
it was his residence. His son Josiah afterwards owned it and the
land on which it stood. Seth, a grandson of Josiah, built, about
the year 1766, a large and convenient dwelling house near the old
stone house, in which he had previous!}' resided. Afterwards
the latter was used as an out-building. Seventy-five years ago it
was in a ruinous condition, and every vestage of it is now re-
moved. It corresponded in size and construction to the fortifica-
tion house already described. Previously to his death Deacon
William built and resided in the large two story frame house on
the Meeting House way, afterwards owned and occupied by his
grand-children, Nathaniel and Experience. They came into the
possession of it soon after the death of Dea. William, who
devised it to their father John, after the death of his widow
Patience. Neither Nathaniel nor Experience married. Each
owned a large real-estate and had, at their deaths, money on hand
and money loaned, on bonds payable in silver money. In 1740
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 211
the house required repairs, and Experience, before her death,
provided lumber, nails, &c., to complete the same, and which she
directed to be done after her death. This house was taken down
about fifty years ago. The style was that of the first settlers.
Two stories in front and one in the rear.
My main object in this inquirey, is to ascertain from records
and other sources of information, what was the action of the
townsmen of Barnstable under the order of the Colony Court,
dated Oct. 10, 1643, requiring them to fortify "a place or places
for the defence of themselves, their wives, and children, against
a suddaine assault." The committee to enforce this order, were
Mr. Thomas Dimmock, Anthony Annable, Henry Cobb, Henry
Coggen, Barnard Lumberd, and the constable James Hamblen.
The three deac(ms of the church, Dimmock, Cobb and Crocker,
each complied with the order of the court, built fortification
houses, and were aided by theii' neighbors, because in case of a
sudden assault by the Indians, the buildings were to be a common
place for refuge for all. Who built the stone fort on Dexter's
lane, 1 have been unable to ascertain. In 1692 it was owned and
occupied by Eleazer Crocker.*
2. John Crocker, the second of the name, a son of Dea.
William Crocker, was born in Scituate May 1, 1637, came to
Barnstable with his father 1639. Married in 1659, Mary, daugh-
ter of Robert Bodflsh. She died Dec. 1662, and he married
April 25, 1663, for his second wife, Mary, daughter of John
Bursley. He died May 1711, aged 74. His children born in
Barnstable were :
9. I. Elizabeth, 7th Oct. 1660, married Dea. Richard Child
1678, died Jan. 15, 1716, aged 56. Her first house was
next west of Lieut. Rowland's. She afterwards resided
as named in the account of her family.
10. II. Jonathan, 15tb July, 1662, married Hannah, daughter
of John Howland, 20th May, 1686. He died Aug. 24,
1746, aged 84, and is buried in the West Barnstable
graveyard.
11. III. John, 17th Feb. 1663-4, married 5th Nov. 1702, Mary,
daughter of Nathaniel Bacon. She died March 1710-11,
and he married 22d June 1721, Sarah Hinckley. This John
* The earliest land owners in the vicinity of the old stone fort, were William Crocker,
Joseph Bodfish, Peter Blossom, Mr. Thomas Dexter, Edward Fitzrandolph, and John
Bursley. The old stone fort was impre^iable against any lorce that the Indians could
raise, and it is sui-prising that its history is buried in oblivion. Perhaps some future inves-
tigator may be more successful than I have been. In Yarmouth a fort was built near the
Cong. Meeting House, ou a rising ground known as "±"ort Hill," and in the easterly part of
the town, on land owned by the late Capt. Samuel Rogers, a block house. That house was
formerly owned by TJlomas Baxterr Capt. Rogers, who took it down in 1810, furnishes me
with the following description. "It was about 20 feet by 28 feet square, walls of hewn tim-
ber, one storv high, gambrel roof, windows small, diamond glass set in lead, chimney stone
to chamber floor, brick above, all laid in clay mortar. Bricks large ; partially burnt, Fire-
place in front room, eight feet wide, with a stone hearth. Shingles on the walls and roof
cedar, long, and an inch thick. Boards used apparently sawed by hand." Fortification
houses were also built in Sandwich. See Freeman's History.
212 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
is called Jr., on the early records, and his father Sen'r.
He resided on the west side of the road, a short distance
north from the present meeting house.
12. IV. Hannah, 10th Oct. 1665, married 1st July, 1686,
Samuel Lothrop, a grandson of Rev. John.
13. V. Joseph, 1st March, 166T-8, married 18th Sept. 1691,
Ann, daughter of Lieut. John Howland.
14. VI. Benjamin, probably died young. He is not named in
his father's will dated 30th April, 1706, or in the division of
his brother Jabez's estate, April 3, 1700.
15. VII. Nathaniel, born 1773. He died Feb. 11, 1740-1, in
the 69th year of his age, leaving neither wife nor children.
In 1715 his house is described as being near the head of
the lane, on the east side, and north of the land on which the
West Barnstable church now stands. (Blue) John Crocker after-
wards owned it, and subsequently the same estate was owned by
the late Stephen C. Nye, deceased. He owned only two fifteenths
of the house, his sister Experience owning the other thirteen
fifteenths. His estate was apprized at £2,003 10 10. Silyer at
that time was worth 28 shillings per ounce. His homestead was
apprized at £1,100. He had 92 ounces of silver on hand, and
£266,5 due him in silver, at his death. He left no will, and his
own brothers and sisters contended that Jonathan Crocker and
Elizabeth Child's heirs, being only of the half blood, were not
entitled to shares. The Judge of Probate, Hon. Sylvanous
Bourne, in a very able report on the law, decided that they were
equally entitled, and ordered the estate to be divided into seven
shares, and distributed to 1, Jonathan Crocker; 2, heirs of
Elizabeth Childs ; 3, Mrs. Mary Bursley, surviving sister ; 4,
Children of Capt. Joseph Crocker, deceased ; 5, Children of
Hannah Lothrop, deceased ; 6, Children of John Crocker,
deceased ; and 7, to heirs of Experience Crocker deceased.
16. VIII. Experience, born in 1674, died single, April 17,
1740-1, in the 67th year of her age, and is buried in the
West Barnstable graveyard. She owned thirteen fifteenths,
and her brother Nathaniel two fifteenths, of the ancient
dwelling house of her grandfather, which has already been
described. Besides the estate bequeathed to her by her
father, she accumulated a considerable amount by her own
industry and prudence. Her estate was apprized at £588
14. Her silver plate were valued at £69 14 : 50 ounces at
the current rate of silver at that time. In her will she
makes bequests to her brothers Jonathan and Joseph ; to
her sister Mary Bursley ; to the children of her sister
Elizabeth Childs, deceased ; to Benjamin, son of her brother
Joseph ; to Benjamin and Samuel, sons of her "^sister Han-
nah Lothrop ; to Moses, son of her brother John ; to Mary
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 213
Davis, daughter of her sister Hannah Lothrop ; to Deborah,
daughter of her brother Joseph ; to John, son of her
nephew Moses ; to Elizabeth, daughter of her brother John ;
to Joseph Lothrop, son of her nephew Joseph, deceased ; to
the poor of the church of which she was a member ; to the
church in West Barnstable ; and to John, son of the Rev.
Jonathan Russell. To her brother John's son John, (called
Blue John Crocker) she bequeathed the lower great room
in her house, the" bed room and the garret, and materials to
put the house in good repair. The remainder of the house
she bequeathed to her neice Hannah Lothrop, a single
woman, then fifty years of age. All the rest of her estate
she gave to her sister Mary Bursley, Experience Lothrop,
Hannah Lothrop, Abigail Lothrop, and Prudence Gorham,
wife of John Gorham, Esq., and daughter of Joseph
Crocker.
Miss Experience had scjme of the good qualities of the
Vicar of Wakefield's wife. He said all his wife's cousins
even to the fortieth remove, never forget their relationship,
and never passed his door without calling, and his table was
always well filled with a happy company.
17. IX. Jabez, died in 1700, without issue, and his estate was
divided among his brothers and sisters, by the same father
and mother, then surviving.
18. X. Mary, married Feb, 11, 1702, John Bursley, Jr.
19. XI. Abigail. Her birth is not recorded on the town
records. She died young, leaving no issue.
20. XII. Bathshua, also died young, leaving no issue.
Of the children of John Crocker, his son Joseph is the last
whose birth is recorded on the town records. The names of the
others are arranged in the order found on the Probate records.
4. Samuel Crocker, son of Dea. William Crocker, born in
Barnstable July 3, 1642, died Dec. 1681, aged 39. It does not
appear that he married. If he had left issue, his children would
probably have been named in their grandfather's will. The cause
of his death is stated in the following extract from the Plymouth
Colony Records, Vol. 6, page 82.
An Inditement.
"Indian James, thou art here indited by the name of James,
for that thou, haveing not the fear of God before thyne eyes, on
the one and twentyeth day of November 1681, in the town of
Barnstable, didst felloniously, willfully, and of mallice fore-
thought, with intent to murder, kick Samuel Crocker, son of
William Crooker, of Barnstable, on the bottom of his belley,
whereof the said Samuel Crocker three weeks after died ; which
thou hast don contrary to the law of God, of England, and this
collonie, and contrary to the peace of our sou.'r Lord the Kinge,
214 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
his crowne, and dignity.
The jury find the prisenor nott guilty of willfull murder."
No Indians were on the jury, as was the usual practice in
such cases ; and the verdict of the jury shows that impartial jus-
tice was dispensed by our ancesters irrespective of caste or race.
Against Indian James no further proceedings appear on the
records.
5. Dea. Job. Crocker. Few men in Barnstable were held
in higher esteem in his day, than Dea. Job Crocker. Like his
father, he was honest and upright in his dealing, industrious and
prudent in his habits, an obliging neighbor, a good citizen.
Nurtured by pious parents, in early life he became a member of
the church, and through life, his daily walk was in accordence
with his profession. The church records say of him, "God and
his people having elected and proved our Brother Job Crocker,
for the office of deacon in this church, he was solomnly set a part
for, and ordained unto that work and office iu July 1684 ; to
serve in the deaconship of this church, together with his father."
For eight years, during the pastorate of the elder Russell, he and
his venerable father were joint occupants of the deacon's seat.
It is inscribed on his grave stones, that for thirty and four years
he was a deacon of the Barnstable church.
Dea. Job Crocker was a man of good business capacity,
was much employed in the business of the town, holding many
offices which it is unnecessary here to enumerate. He inhabited
the homestead of his uncle John, rocky and hard to cultivate,
but an excellent grazing farm. The substantial stone walls built
thereon in his day, remain as monuments of his industry and
perseverance. His house, a large two story structiu-e, built in the
fashion of that day with a heavy cornice in front, and a long low
or leantoo roof on the rear, yet remains.* It is situate near the
meadows and in close proximity to the Cape Cod Railroad. The
first location of the road was between the house and spring from
which seven successive generations of Crockers had drawn water.
Out of respect to the then venerable occupants, the location was
changed to a point below, a concession rarely made by engineers.
Dea. Job Crocker married for his first wife, Nov. 1668,
Mary, daughter of Rev. Thomas Walley, the then pastor of the
Barnstable church. She was born in London and there baptized
April 18, 1644. She came over with her father in the ship
Society, Capt. John Pierce, and arrived in Boston 24th of the
* Some doubt may arise whetlier or not Dea. Job occupied the western or the eastern
house. He occupied the most ancient, that is certain, and the decision of the question
turns on this point; was the westeni, tlie one now standing, the most ancient. The first
settlers, with scarce a solitary exception, planted pear trees near their houses and these old
button and fall pear trees are their monuments. The trees near the western house were
vei-y ancient, while those near the eastern were smaller and not so old. The eastern house
was a two story siugrle house built in the style common about one hundred and forty years
ago. It was taken down aboiit forty years ago. It was occupied by David Crocker, Ksq.,
son of Job, and I presume was built by him.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 215
3d month (May) 1662. She died about the year 1676, leaving
two children.
For his second wife he married, 19th July 1680, Hannah,
daughter of Richard Taylor of Yarmouth, called "tailor" to dis-
tinguish him from another of the same Christian name. He died
March 1718-19, aged 75 years, and is buried in the ancient bury-
ing ground. His wife Hannah surviyed him, and died 14th May
1743, in the 85th year of her age. In her will dated 10th of July
1739, proved 8th July 1743, she names her grandsons in law,
Thomas and WaUey Crocker, her daughters Mary Howland,
Hannah, Elizabeth Allen, and Sarah Lumbert ; her sons John
Crocker, David Crocker, and Job, deceased ; Mary, wife of Isaac
Howland ; Abigail, wife of Geo. Howland ; Hannah, daughter of
her son David ; grand-daughter Hannah Allen ; and her grand-son
John Howland.
Children of Dea. Job Crocker.
21. I. A son, born 18, 1769, died in infancy.
22. II. Samuel, 15th May, 1671, married Dec. 10, 1696,
Sarah, daughter of Robert Parker, and for his second wife,
April 12, 1719, .Judeth Leavet, of Rochester.
23. III. Thomas, 19th Jan. 1674, married 23d Dec. 1701,
Elizabeth, widow of "John Lothrop, the son of Esquire
Barnabas Lothrop."
24. IV. Mary, born 29th June, 1681, married June 19, 1719,
.John Howland, Jr., his second wife, and had John, 13th
Feb. 1720-21, graduate of Harvard College 1741, ordained
at Carver, 1746, died Nov. 4, 1804, aged 84 ; and a son
Job, June 1726.
25. V. John, 24th Feb. 1683, called Dea. John.
26. VI. Hannah, 2d Feb. 1685. [A Hannah Crocker of
Barnstable, married July 7, 1712, John Holden of War-
wick.]
27. VII. Elizabeth, 15th May, 1688, married April 5, 1712,
Rev. Benjamin Allen, a native of Tisbury, Martha's Vine-
yard. He graduated at Yale College 1708, ordained July
9, 1718, as the first misister of the south parish in Bridge-
water, where he remained about twelve years. He was
afterwards installed at Cape Elizabeth where he died May
6, 1754, aged 65. He was improvident in his habits and in
consequence often involved in troubles. One of his grand-
daughters by the name of Jourdan, married Rev. Enos
Hitchcock, D. D., of Providence.
28. VIII. Sarah, born 19th Jan. 1690-1, married May 27,
1725, Benjamin Lumbard, Jr., died Nov. 1768, aged 76,
leaving no issue.
29. IX. Job, 4th April 1694, died May 21, 1731, aged 37.
He did not marrv.
216 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
30. X. David, born oth Sept. 1697, graduate of Harvard Col-
lege 1716, married 12th Nov. 1724, Abigail, daughter of
David Loring, and Jan. 27, 1767, Mrs. Abigail Stuart. He
died in 1764, aged 67.
31. XI. Thankful, born 14th June, 1700, died unmarried Oct.
1, 1735.
6. Josiah Crocker, son of Dea. William, born Sept. 19,
1647, was a substantial farmer, and resided in the old stone
house built by his father. He inherited the southeasterly part of
his father's estate. In the proprietor's records, it is stated that
his heirs owned a house at Cotuit ; whether or not it was ever
occupied by him, I have no means of ascertaining. At the divis-
ion of the common meadows in 1697, lie was one of the five to
whom was awarded seven acres, showing that he was a man of
wealth. In 1690 there was laid out to him at Cotuit Neck, forty
acres of land formerly the great lot of John Hall, and thirty acres
formerly the lot of Thomas and Peter Blossom. In 1698 he
exchanged twenty-seven acres of his land at Cotuit Neck with
the town, taking land at the same place adjoining Lewis's Pond,
now called Lovell's Pond.
In 1688 the town granted him one and a half acres of upland on
the south of his barn, bounded north and east by his other land,
south and west by the commons. He was not much in public life.
He is named as a member of the grand inquest in 1679, and was
surveyor of highways in 1682. He married 23d Oct. 1668,
Melatiah, daughter of Gov. Thomas Hinckley. He died 2d Feb.
1698-9 aged 51 years. In his will dated on the 28th of the
preceding month, he names his wife Melatiah, sons Thomas,
Josiah, Ebenezer, Seth, Benjamin, and daughters, Mercy, Mary,
Else, and Melatiah.
The Wid. Melatiah Crocker died 2d Feb. 1714-15, aged 66
years. In her will dated Jan. 21, 1613-14, she names her five
sons ; and daughters Mary, Alice, and Melatiah ; also daughter
Hannah (wife of her son Thomas) and her grand-daughter
Tabitha.
Children horn in Barnstable.
31. I. A son, born 20th Aug. 1669, died Sept. 1669.
32. II. Thomas, born 27th May 1671, married 25th March
1696, Hannah Green of Boston. He died April 1728, aged
57 years.
33. III. Mercy, born 13th Feb. 1674, died in early life.
34. IV. Mary, born 10th Sept. 1677, married Nov. 1705, her
cousin William Crocker.
35. y. Alice, born 25th Dec. 1679, married 14th June 1711,
George Lewis. She died 23d Feb. 1718. Alice does not
appear to have been a favorite name with the Crockers.
This is the only grand-child of the name, and she did not
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 317
give the name to either of her daughters.
36. VI. Melatiah, born 20th Nov. 1681, married Oct. 27, 1729,
her cousin Timothv Crocker.
37. VII. Josiah, born 8th Feb. 1684, married April 10, 1711,
Desii-e, daughter of Col. John Thacher.
38. VIII. Ebenezer, bom 30th May, 1687, married 22d
March, 1715, Hannah Hall of Yarmouth.
39. IX. Seth, born 23d Sept. 1689, died in Harwich, 1623,
leaving no issue. His brother Benjamin of Ipswich, was
executor of his will.
40. X. Benjamin, born 26th Sept. 1692, graduate of Harvard
College 1713. He removed to Ipswich, Mass., and was
many years teacher of the Grammar School in that town.
He was a representative from Ipswich to the Mass. Gen.
Court in 1726, '34 and '36. He was a member of the south
church in that town ; but as the individuals chosen for its
Ruling Elders were not ordained, because Mr. Walley, the
pastor, did not believe such officers were required by the
gospel, he left, and united with the first church. He was a
deacon and occasionally preached. He married Elizabeth,
daughter of Rev. William Williams of Weston, and had
Mary, who married Gannison, and John, a deacon of
the chui'ch and a man of note in his day. Dea. Benjamin
Crocker died in 1766, aged 75, and his wife who survived
him married Cogswell, t
7. Eleazer Crocker, son of Dea. William Crocker, born in
Barnstable 21st July 1650, was admitted a townsman in 1681.
In 1692 he was one of the committee appointed to draw up a list
of the proprietors of the common lands, and determine what
was each man's just right therein. After the death of Nathaniel
Bacon in 1693, he was "chosen and empowered by the town to be
a land measurer to lay out land." He married 7th April 1682,
Ruth, daughter of Elder John Chipman. She died 8th April
1698, aged 34. For his second wife he married Jan. 25, 1716-17,
Mercy Phinney.
Children of Eleazer Crocker.
41. I. Benoni, born 13th May, 1682, died 3d Feb. 1701.
42. II. Bethia, born 23d Sept. 1683, married John Whiton
March 13, 1710.
43. III. Nathan, born 27th April, 1685, married 10th March,
1708-9, Joanna, daughter of John Bursley, and the Barn-
t Alvah Crocker, Esq., of Fitchburg, in a letter says that "upon one of the oldest
Grave Stones in St. Anns Church Yard, Newburyport, he finds this inscription, *Capt.
John Crocker born in 1692, died March 19, 1763.' " This Capt. John Crocker ivaa the great
^andfather of Alvah Crocker, Esq., and if the inscription on his Grave Stone is accur-
ately transcribed he was not a son of Benjamin of Ipswich. Mr. Crocker says the tradition
in his family, is that he is a descendant of Dea. William, but as at present advised X do not
preceive how the tradition can be verified.
46.
VI.
47.
VII.
48.
VIII.
1718
49.
IX.
218 GENEAIiOGIOAt NOTES OF BARNSTABLE PAMffilES.
stable records, say. lie. also, married Abigail Bursley Mardii
10, 1713-14, eyideatly an error of the Clerk.
44. IV. Daniel, born 23d March, 1686-7, died without issue
1723.
45. V. Sarah, born, 23^ March, 1689, married Nov. 7, 1712^
Joseph Bursley.
Theophilus, born 11th March, 1691.
Eleazer, born 3d Aug. 1693.
Ruth, born 3d Aug. 1693, married Samuel Fuller
Abel, born 15th June, 1695, married April 16, 1818:
Mary Isum. The names of his children do not appear on
the town records. His wife joined the church Dec. 1723,
when her son Daniel and daughter Rebecca were baptized,
and Aug. 1725, her son Eleazer. Soon after the latter date,
the family removed to Plymton, and returned 1757.
50. X. Rebecca, born 10th Dec. 1697, married Robbins..
51. XI. Mercy, by his second wife, and named in his will.
8. Sergeant Joseph Crocker, youngest son of Dea. William,,
born in 1654, resided at West Barnstable. He inherited the
north-easterly part of his father's farm, bounded easterly by the.
Otis and Hinckley estates. That portion of the ancient Crocker
estate, on the north of the County road and bounded easterly by
the lands of Mr. John Smith, was not included in his estate.*
His house was on the Meeting House road, if I construe the
records rightly, not far from the present location of the Cape
Cod Railroad Depot. A reservation of three rods in width
through his lands was made for that road. In 1703 he was rated
the highest, and probably was the most wealthy man in Barn-
stable. He was admitted a townsman in 1 678 ; but does not
appear to have been often employed in town or other public busi-
ness. He was a sergeant in the militia company, than an office
of some honor. In his will dated 20th Feb. 1720-1, he gives to
his wife Temperance all his personal estate, and the use and
improvement of all his real estate during her natur-al life. In
most of the old wills the phrase used is, "while she remains my
widow," on the presumption that the husband can bind the wife,
after his decease.
To his four daughters he devised all his lands and meadows
lying by the mill river ; to his son William, "all his housing and
*The same rule was adopted in Barnstable and Tarmouth in the division of the common
lands ; that is, one third to the townsmen, one third on the estates, and one third to the tene-
ments. In Barnstable only the ^oss number of shares alloted to each is recorded ; in Yar-
mouth the several particulars are ^ven. Joseph Crocker had 80 shares, James Gorham 74
3-4, John Hamblin 71 3-4, .James Hamblin, Sen'r, 69, &c. It will thus be perceived why it
was that our ancestors, were so cautious in admitting townsmen. It not only conferred all
the rights appertaining to a citizen; but made the party a proprietor of the common lands.
If a house stood on the common land, the owner was not entitled to a tenement right. To
confer the right, the house had to be on the land of the individual, and the title acquired
by liim according to the usuagea of the times.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 219
lands where he then dwelt," and all his wood lots ; and to Timothy
"all his lands in the timber lands, at a place called Great Hill, all
subject to the use and improvement of their mother during her
natural life. Noah is not named in the will, and was probably
then dead.
Joseph Crocker married Deo. 1677, Temperance, daughter
of John Bursley. She survived her husband many years and died
very aged.
Children born in Barnstable.
52. I. William, born 25th Aug. 1679, married Nov. 1705, his
cousin Mary Crocker.
53. II. Timothy, born 30th April 1681, married Oct. 27, 1709,
his cousin Melatiah Crocker.*
54. III. Noah, born Dec. 1683, died young.
55. IV. Joanna, born 18th July 1687, married 9th Feb. 1708-9,
Joseph Fuller, Jr., died April 13, 1766.
56. V. Martha, born 22d Feb. 1689.
57. VI. Temperance, 26th Aug. 1694.
58. VII. Remember, 26th Aug. 1699, married Samuel Annable,
3d, May 28, 1719.
Third Generation.
(10) Jonathan Crocker, son of John, owned the laild now
known as the Bodfish Farm at West Barnstable. He was a sub-
stantial farmer, owned a large estate ; and, as his father and
grand-father had done, he conveyed by deeds a large part of it to
his children, reserving only, a sufficiency for his comfortable sup-
port in old age. His residence on the Bodflsh Farm, probablj'
built by his father, was a two story single house, with a leantoo,
or "salt box," as they were sometimes called, on the side. This
he sold in 1713 to his son-in-law, Benjamin Bodflsh. It was
taken down in 1819, and the old Bodfish mansion house stands on
the same spot.f His will, which is in the hand writing of the
Rev. Jonathan Russell, is dated June 1737, and the codicil thereto
* Physiologists may perhaps notice these two instances of the marriage of cousins.
■William and Mary had eight children. One was still bom, and one died aged 21 days.
Of the other six, none were distinguished either for phj^sical or intellectual vigor. Timothy
and Melatiah had five daughters, distinguished for their intellectual vigor, graceful accom-
plishments, and business capacity. Beautiful specimens of embroidery wrought b^ them
are preserved by their descendants. A few years since a gentleman well versed in the
genealogies of the Nantucket ^milies, attempted to show that the marriage of cousins was
not objectionable, and he made out a strong case.
t Since writing the above I have examined the records of the grants of land made in
1716. There is great want of cleanness, in the descriptions. The records says, "Set out to
Jonathan Crocker, a piece of land at the head of his own, bounded westerly by the way
that goeth up by his house, northerly by his own land to the dividing line between him and
.John Crocker." John Crocker's land is bounded "easterly," evidently should be
westerly, by Jonathan's, and easterly by the way to Nathaniel Crocker's. Out of this
grant the three acres on which the west Barnstable meeting house now stand» was
reserved. The reservation was made in the grant to Thomas ; but appears to have been
taken from John's. It seems by this that Jonathan Crocker's house in 1716, was on
Dexter's Lane, and whether he ever resided in the house he sold t« Bodfish is not clear.
220 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
June 1742, four years before his death. He provides for the
support of his wife Thankful, giving her the household goods she
brought with her, and some bedding she had made since. He gave
his son Isaac £30 and his great chair, names his son James, and
James' oldest son, to whom he gave his gun. To the Rev.
Jonathan Russell he devised 20 shillings ; to the church 20 shil-
lings ; and to Mercy Dexter then living with him £5. All the
rest of his estate, real and personal, to the children of his three
daughters, Lydia, Hannah and Reliance. In the codicil to his
will he gives the estate which had fallen to him by the death of
his brother Nathaniel, equally, in five shares, to his sons Isaac
and James, to the children and heirs of his daughter Lydia Bod-
flsh, deceased, to the children and heirs of his daughter Hannah
Fuller, and to the children and heirs of his daughter Reliance
Smith, deceased. At the time he made his will all his children,
excepting Isaac and James, were dead, and they resided in Con-
necticut.
Jonathan Crocker man-ied for his first wife, 20th May, 1686,
Hannah, daughter of Lieut. John Rowland. She was the mother
of all his children. After her death he married Feb. 1710-11,
Thankful, widow of Mr. John Hinckley, Jr., and daughter of
Thomas Trott of Dorchester. He died Aug. 24, 1746, aged 84,
and i8«t)uried in the West Barnstable grave yard. No monuments
are erected to the memory of either of his wives.
Children born in Barnstable.
59. I. Lydia, born 26th Sept. 1686, man-ied Benjamin Bodfish,
10th Nov. 1709.
60. II. Hannah, born 26th March 1688, married 10th 7th
month, 1708, Shubael Fuller, of East Haddam, Conn., and
removed thither.
61. III. Thankful, born 6th March, 1690, died young.
62. IV. Isaac, born April 4, 1692, married Dec. 13, 1718,
Ann Smith, and removed to East Haddam, Conn., where
she died June 1725, aged 30. Oct. 31, 1726, he married
for his second wife Elizabeth Fuller of Barnstable. In
1 729 he removed to Westchester, in the town of Colchester.
He died Aug. 8, 1769, at 4 o'clock P. M., aged 77 years, 4
months, and 8 days.
Children of Isaac Crocker born in East Haddam, Conn.
1, Hannah, Sept. 22,1719; 2, Ann, June 29, 1722, died
unmaiTied, March 29, 1772, aged 49 ; 3, Joseph, Dec. 20, 1724,
married Nov. 10, 1748, Sarah, daughter of Rev. Judah Lewis; 4,
Elizabeth, Aug. 26, 1727, married as second wife. May, 26,
1747, Simeon Ockley. She died at Williamston Nov. 9, 1797,
aged 70 ; 5, Mary, April 30, 1729 ; 6, Martha, born at Colchester,
arch 3, 1731 ; 7, Abigail, March 10, 1733 : 8, a daughter, Sept.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 221
62. 1736, died same day.
63. V. Reliance, born 28th June, 1694, married Josepli Smith,
Jr., 5th Oct. 1712 ; died 4th May, 1704, aged 30.
64. VI. Jonathan, born 28th May, 1696, married Nov. 28,
1723, Elizabeth, daughter of the second John Bursley. He
died Sept. 21, 1726, leaving a son Ephraim, who died Oct.
17, 1726, aged one year and 15 days.
65. VII. James, born 3d Sept. 1699, married Nov. 21, 1721,
Alice Swift, born in Sandwich July 23, 1698 da'r of Jireh
and Abigail Swift. About the year 1724 he removed to
Colchester, Conn., and built a house near the Colchester and
East Haddam turnpike which, till 1860, was occupied by his
descendents. He and his wife were members of the church
in the parish of Westchester. She died in Westchester
Jan. 15, 1783, aged 84 ; and he died Nov. 7, 1785, aged 86.
They lived in the marriage state over sixty-one years.
Their children were: 1, Simeon, the Barnstable records say
born at Barnstable, March 22, 1722, the Colchester, Sept.
19, 1722, (the latter probably accurate.) He married
March 7, 1751, Dorothy Williams. He died at Westchester
Feb. 13, 1778. His death was caused by a fall on the ice,
while going from his house to his barn. She died Aug. 4,
1818, aged about 95. 2, Abigail, J born according to the
the Barnstable record, Sept. 19, 1724, according to the
Colchester, March 25, 1724, married Feb. 23, 1744, John
Williams, and 2d, April 23, 1765, Enoch Arnold, died
1771. 3, Hannah, born at Colchester Jan. 17, 1726. 4,
Levi, May 11, 1728. 5, Jonathan, March 16, 1730. 6,
James, April 20, 1732. 7, Thankful, Jan. 27, 1733-4. 8,
Lydia, Jan. 14, 1736-6. 9, Ephraim, Sept. 21, 1739. The
last was a physician settled in Richmond, Mass.
66. VIII. Ephraim, born April 1702, died May 1, 1704.
(11) John Crocker son of John, born 7th Feb. 1663-4, was
called Junior until 1711, when he was the elder of the name in
Barnstable. He married 6th Nov. 1702, Mary, daughter of the
second Nathaniel Bacon. She died March, 1710-11, aged 33, and
he mamed for his second wife, Sarah, Nov. 11, 1711, probably a
daughter of Ensign John Hinckley.
Children horn in Barnstable.
67. I. Sarah, born 4th Jan. 1703-4.
G8. II. Moses, born 5th April, 1705, married May 15, 1736,
Mary Fish of Sandwich, and had 1, Nathaniel, May 7,
1736; 2, John, March 8, 1737-8, he was 4th and called
Tanner. He married Jan. 8, 1761, Thankful Hallett; 3,
X Abigail Crocker was the great grand-mother of my correspondent, D. "William Patter-
son, Esq., of West Winstead, Conn., to whom I am much indebted for information respect-
ing the early emigrants from Barnstable to Connectifut.
222 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Sarah, Aug. 16, 1740 ; 4, Moody, Feb. 14, 1742 ; and 5,
Edmund, Aug. 17, 1645, also Nathaniel not named in the
record.
69. III. Mary, bom July, 1707. In a deed dated 37th Aug.,
styles herself spinster, names her uncle Nathaniel, deceased,
and her two brothers, Moses and John.
70. IV. John, born Sept. 1709, called John Blue or Blue
Stocking John. In the latter part of his life he was the
elder of the four John Crocker's and called first. His
house, bequeathed to him by his great aunt, Experience,
stood on the easterly side of the road, a little distance north
of the West Barnstable church, and was afterwards owned and
occupied by Mr. Lemuel Nye. He married Lydia Barker of
R. I. (Neither his marriage nor the publication thereof is
on the Barnstable town records.) His children born in
Barnstable were : 1, Elizabeth, Feb. 28, 1738 ; 2, Stephen,
Dec. 3, 1740; 3, Joseph, Feb. 6, 1842 ; 4, AUyn, Feb. 18,
1745 ; 5, Bathseba, Jan. 23, 1747, David Kelley ; 6, Lydia,
May 12, 1749; 7, David ; 8, Hannah, March 13, 1753,
Tobey; 9, John, May 12, 1755, called "Young Blue." He
was a sea captain, and active and intelligent man. He
bought the ancient Hinckley house in which he resided.
His son John Barker Crocker is well known. Abigail, lOth
child of Blue John Crocker, was born Feb. 1758, Nath'l
Jenkins.
71. V. Elizabeth, born March 1710-11.
(13) Capt. Joseph Crocker, son of John, born 1st March,
1667-8, married Ann, daughter of Lieut. John Howland, 18th
Sept. 1691. Capt. Crocker was an influential man, and was
much employed in public business. About the year 1700 he
bought the house of Robert Claghorn, which stood at the east end
of Lumbard's pond, and the lands adjoining which he afterwards
sold to the Lothrops His residence was at Cotuit, and his farm
is now owned by Josiah Sampson and others. His residence was
a large old fashioned two story double house. It was standing
not long since.
Children horn in Barnstable.
1-2. I. Deborah, last of Dec. 1691.
73. II. Prudence, born 26th July, 1692, married Oct. 2, 1712
John Gorham, Esq., of Barnstable. She was the mother
of 14 children, 13 of whom lived to mature age. She died
in 1778 aged 86.
74. III. Benjamin, born 5th April, 1696, married 17th Sept.
1719, Priscilla, daughter of Dea. Joseph Hall of Yarmouth.
He resided at Cotuit, and died 1757, aged 61. His children
were 1, Deborah, born June 22, 1721, died early ; 2, Desire,
born Aug. 9, 1727, married Oct. 3, 1747, Coi-nelius Samp-
son of Rochester; and 3, Martha, born Juae fi, 1732.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OE BAKNSTABLE FAMILIKS. 223
(22) Samuel Crocker, son of Job, born 15th May, 1671,
married Dec. 10, 1696, Sarah, daughter of Robert Parker. She
was the mother of thirteen children, and died in 1718, aged 40.
He married for his second wife, April 12, 1719, Judith Leavet of
Rochester, by whom he had two children. His farm was at the
village now called Pondville, near the Sandwich line and was
bounded by the road leading to Scorton.
Children born in Barnstable.
76. I. Samuel, born 12th Dec. 1697, married 2d March, 1723-4,
Ruth, daughter of the third James Hamblin. She was
born in 1692, and was five years older than her husband.
He had 1, Noah, Sept. 12, 1724; 2, Sarah, Jan. 5, 1726,
married Shubael Hamblin, .Jr., July 16, 1761 ; 3, Hannah,
May 16, 1729, married Jan. 29, 1758, Abel Gushing of
Hingham; 4, Anna, May 8, 1731, married Jabez Bursley,
Dec. 15, 1747 ; 5, Joanna, June 4, 1735, died Aug. 7, 1735,
6, Joanna.
77. II. Cornelius, born 24th Oct. 1698, died young.
78. III. Mary, 8th April, 1700.
79. IV. Patience, born 18th April, 1701. She became, in
1727, the second wife of Shubael Davis, sixteen years her
senior.
80. V. Elizabeth, born Feb. 1702-3, married James Childs
Sept. 27, 1722.
81. VI. Cornelius, born 23d March, 1704. (See account of
him below.)
82. VII. Rowland, born 18th June, 1705.
83. VIII. G-ersham, bom Dec. 1706, died Nov. 26, 1786,
aged 80.
84. IX. Ebenezer, born 5th June, 1710, married Ann Eldredge
of Falmouth, June 12, 1735, removed to East Haddam,
Conn., 1751. Children born in Barnstable, 1, Rowland,
June, 8, 1736, married 24th May, 1763, Persis Brown, and
had six children; 2, Joanna, born Dec. 8, 1737; 3,
Ezekiel, born Nov. 24, 1739, married Feb. 28, 1765, Lydia
Arnold of East Haddam. He removed to Richmond,
Mass., where he had David, Samuel and Lucy baptized,
Aug. 14, 1785. He was one of the early settlers of
Broome County, N. Y., a very pious man and regular at
family worship. One morning while engaged in his devo-
tions, he saw his cows in the corn, and he broke into his
prayer with, "David! Sam! don't you see those cursed
cows in the corn ? run boys ! quick ! ! " and seeing them well
started after the cows, took up his broken prayer, and
leisurely finished it. At 80 years he married a girl of 18,
promising her, it is said, as her dower, her weight in silver
dollars. Thev lived together but a short time. She
224 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
separated from him aud married his grandson. 4, Tabitha,
born in Barnstable Feb. 20, 1741-2 ; 5, Bethia, baptized
Bethiel, born June 8, 1744 ; 6, Gershom, born Oct. 8, 1746,
married Jan. 17. 1769, Ann Fisher; 7, Alice, baptized
March 9, 1748-9 ; 8, Ebenezer, born in East Haddam,
June 25, 1751 ; 9, Samuel, June 2, 1753.
85. X. Benjamin, born July, 1711, married 1738, Abigail,
daughter of John Jenkins of Falmouth. He married in
1747, Bathsheba, daughter of Dea. Joseph Hall of Yar-
mouth. He probably married for his 3d wife in 1759 Annie
Handy of Sandwich. He had seven children born in Barnsta-
ble, all of whom, excepting Josiah, were baptized at the West
Church. 1, Joseph, April 15, 1748 ; 2, Benjamin, Sept. 17,
1749 ; 3, Timothy, Oct. 3, 1751 ; 4, Abigail, Nov. 91, 1753 ; 5,
Bathsheba, Nov. 11, 1755; 6, Peter, Jan. 11, 1758; 7,
Josiah, April 17, 1760.
86. XI. Eebecea, , married Eben Jones, March 20, 1 740.
87. XII. Rachell, . married Joseph Howland, Jan. 18,
1738-9.
88. XIII. David, , called junior to distinguish him from
David Crocker, Esq., son of Job, married Dorcas Davis of
Falmouth, 1741, had 1, Anna, born Dec. 24,1742; 2,
Rachel, 1744 ; 3, Samuel, Feb. 1747.
89. XIV. Sarah, , married Joshua Backhouse of Sand-
wich, Nov. 7, 1734.
90. XV. Tabitha, baptized Aug. 21, 1721, married Timothy
Davis of Falmouth, Feb. 7, 1760.
(81. VI.) Cornelius Crocker, son of Samuel, was bound,
when young, as an apprentice to a tailor, and afterwards had a
shop of his own, and worked at the business many years. He
had a club-foot, was lame and unable to attend to business which
required much physical effort and active exertion. He married,
Nov. 9, 1727, Lydia, daughter of Joseph Jenkins. He resided
in the East Parish, built in 1741 the high single house near the
Agricultural Hall, afterwards owned by Ebenezer Taylor. He
bought the ancient grist mill on Mill Creek, which he rebuilt. He
afterwards owned the farm on the west of Rendevons lane, which
was originally Thomas Lothrop's home lot, and that part of
Joseph Lothrop's which was on that side of the lane, together
with the ancient gambrel roofed house which according to tradi-
tion, belonged to the Glovers. He also owned the wharf known
as Crocker's Wharf, and a fish house near the same. He resided
for a time in the gambrel roofed house, afterwards owned and
occupied by his son Samuel. He also bought the estate known of
late years as "Lydia Sturgis's tavern," where he kept a public
house many years. He owned other real estate, and was one of
the most wealth v men of his time in the East Parish. His house
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 225
till within a few years has been a noted tavern stand, and a
favorite resort for travellers. It has always been kept in good
repair. It was built to accommodate those who attended the
courts. The first court house in the county of Barnstable was
built in the field next on the east. Its location caused, at that
time, much excitement. The Gorhams who resided at the lower
part of the town, were wealthy and influential, and insisted that
it should be located in their neighborhood. They urged that such
a location was nearer the center of the population, and that it
would give better satisfaction to the people of the County. Gov.
Hineldey and the Lothrops insisted on a more western location,
and they prevailed. The Lothrops owned the land on which it
was finally located. The Gorhams were so confident that the
Court House would be located in their neighborhood that one or
more buildings intended for hotels, were put up.
Cornelius Crocker, as has already been stated, kept a public
house ; he was also engaged in the fisheries, gave employment to
quite a number of men, and naturally exerted much influence, in
his neighborhood and in the town. He belonged to that moderate
class, among the tories who deemed it inexpedient for the colonies
to adopt measures that would inevitably lead to a war with the
mother country. Perhaps under other circumstances, he would
have been more decided and out-spoken than he was. He had
passed the age of man ; his political principles and his interests
were antagonistical, and prudence dictated that he should commit
no act that would render his large estate liable to confiscation.
At the commencement of the Revolution there were, in fact,
four political parties in Barnstable, the lines between which were
drawn with more or less distinctness. 1, The ardent whigs, of
whom Dr. Nathaniel Freeman of Sandwich, and Joseph Otis,
Esq., a brother of the patriot James, were the moving spirits and
leaders. Dr. Freeman was then a young man, active, ardent and
zealous ; but his zeal was not always tempered by the discretion of
age. This party were nearly all young men, burning with indig-
nation at the outrages which the mother country had inflicted on
the colonies. In the East Parish the leading men were Daniel
Davis, Esq., Sylvanus Gorham, Seth Lothrop, Jonathan Lumbert,
John Thacher, Jethro Thacher, Nathaniel Lothrop, John Lewis,
George Lewis, Timothy Phinney, and James Coleman. Brigadier
Joseph Otis at first acted with them, but he and Daniel Davis,
Esq., afterwards acted with the more moderate party. 2. The
leaders of the more moderate party were older men, and more
conservative in their views. Col. James Otis, Solomon Otis,
Esq., Nymphus Marston, Esq., Lieut. Joseph Blish, Capt. Samuel
Crocker, Edward Bacon, Esq., Sturgis Gorham, Esq., Isaac
Hinckley, Esq., Shearjashub Bourne, Esq., Eleazer Scudder, and
Dea. Joseph Hallett, were prominent men of the party. During
226 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
the Revolution they were always in the majority in Barnstable,
and the members of this party were the men who were relied on
to furnish men and money, tlie sinews of war.
The tories were few in numbers in Barnstable. They were
also divided into two parties, the out-spoken and decided, of
whom David Parker,'Esq., and Mr. Otis Loring were the leading
men. The more moderate were such men as Mr. Cornelius
Crocker and his son Josiah. Among the tories were men of
wealth, of respectability, and influence. They were citizens, and
so long as they did not give aid or comfort to the enemies of the
country, and contributed their share to the public expenses, they
were entitled to the protection of the laws, though their political
opinions might not have been in accordance with the views of a
majority of the people. Such protection the moderate among the
whigs were willing to concede ; but for making this concession,
some of them were persecuted with more bitterness of feeling
then were the open and avowed tories. Edward Bacon, Esq.,
who had been chosen a representative to the General Court, was
denounced as a tory, and an enemy to his country. A remon-
strance embodying these charges was presented to the Legislature
and published in a newspaper at Watertown, July 8, 1776, and in
consequence the seat of Mr. Bacon was declared vacant. He
returned home. A town meeting was duly notified and held, and
the town meeting resolved, with great unanimity, that the charges
preferred against him were false and slanderous.
Capt. Samuel Crocker, to whom unintentional injustice was
done in the notice of the cutting down of the liberty pole in
Barnstable, was also persecuted with a malignity of feeling that is
not creditable to those who took an active part therein. He was
one of the most intelligent and active men of the whig party,
conservative and tolerant in his opinions. His position was un-
fortunate ; but it was not one of his own seeking or making, and
for which he was in no way responsible. His father and brothers
were classed among the loyalists, whether rightfully or wrong-
fully, to him belonged neither the censure or the praise. He was
responsible for his own acts, not for those of others. Natural
affection would dictate to him that he ought not to deal harshly
with those who were bound to him by the ties of consanguinity.
His position entitled him to sympathy ; but there were those who
irreverantly said that he should forsake "father and mother and
wife and children," for the cause of his country. His brother,
Cornelius, was not a decided politician, though he generally acted
with the whig party, and therefore could not be classed among the
tories. He did not possess the commanding talents of his brother
Samuel, or the learning of his brother Josiah, but in his own way,
he denounced, with perhaps too much severity, the excesses of the
day. Such a course exposes a man to the censure of both parties.
GENEALOGICAL, NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 227
In times when the political elements are moved to their very founda-
tions, men cannot be neutral, they must belong to the one party or
the other. To some extent Cornelius Crocker, Jr., professed to be
neutral in politics, and he was therefore denounced by both parties.
In front of his house stood the Liberty Pole, the emblem of progress,
around which the whigs were wont to assemble ; and near by, in lov-
ing proximity, the stocks and the whipping post, lingering emblems
of a barbarous code, and of a more barbarous age.
The inhabitants in town meeting, by their repeated votes,
manifested their confidence in the political integrity of Capt. Samuel
Crocker, against whom the shafts of malevolence seem to have been
as violently hurled as against his father and brothers. Its bitterness
may be judged by the fact that a century has now nearly elapsed,
yet the feelings of animosity which it engendered have not yet sub-
sided.
Another unhappy dissension between individuals also divided
public sentiment. An unfriendly feeling which existed between
Brigadier Joseph Otis and Edward Bacon, Esq., led to unpleasant
political action. Mr. Otis, however, soon became satisfied that the
charges against Mr. Bacon were false and malicious, and there-
after cordially co-operated with him and the conservative portion
of the whig party. Mr. Bacon was a deacon of the East Church,
and the matter became a subject of church discipline. The
church wisely decided that "a church being an ecclesiastical
body, have no right to call its members to an account for actions
of a civil and public nature ; that in signing petitions against Dea.
Bacon, they exercised their just right as men, and subjects of a
free state ; and that in their apprehension, when they entered into
a church state, they did not give up any of their civil rights ; that
they did not charge the Deacon with any immorality ; but that his
religious character stood as fair in their minds when they signed
the petitions as before ; that if they were chargeable with any
overt acts of wickednesi*, or breach of their covenant engage-
ments, they were willing to answer it to the church, and to make
christian satisfaction ; but that as to political controversies, they
begged leave to refer them to a civil tribunal."
This extract is from the reply to the complaint of Dea.
Bacon. The vote of the church assumes the same ground, but
all the particulars are not recapitulated. This vote was passed
June 22d, 1780, three years later than the action of the town,
and after the passions engendered at the moment had had time to
subside. This is contemporaneous authority and therefore valu-
able. Dea. Bacon had, for some time, withdrawn himself from
the communion of the church, and a second vote was unanimously
passed desiring and requesting him "to return to his privilege and
duty and the discharge of his office in the church." On the 2d of
August following a committee was appointed to confer with him.
228 GENEAL(JGICAL, NOTKS OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
and on the 30th they reported at an adjourned meeting, "that the
affair between Dea. Bacon and the Brethren, styled petitioners,
was happily accommodated." Dea. Bacon returned to the dis-
charge of his office, and harmony once more apparently prevailed
in the councils of the church.
In the language of the town records, "the dissentions which
divided our once happy town" were so intimately blended that it is
difficult now to draw the distinguishing lines between them.
"The Crocker quarrels" were two in number, one between Col.
Nathaniel Freeman and others, and the family of Cornelius
Crocker, and the other between Abigail Freeman* and Samuel
Crocker and others. It was the latter that the town refused to
take action on, on the ground that it was a private matter, and
that the settlement of the questions involved, belonged to the
Courts and not to the town.
As references will be made to localities in vicinity of the
Court House, a brief description will not be out of place. The
second Court House has been remodeled and is now known as the
Baptist Meeting House. It was built about the year 1774, and
stands on the north side of the road. At that time there was on
the east, where Judge Day's house now stands, an ancient two
story house, probably built by one of the Lothrops of the first
settlers, and then occupied by the widow Abigail Freeman as a
dwelling house and grocery store. The house on the east,
between the Court House and Rendezvous Lane, said to have
been built of the timber of the old meeting-house, is yet standing,
and is occupied by the Baptist Society for a parsonage. On the
west side of the lane, there was air ancient two story house, prob-
ably built by Thomas Lothrop, a brother of Joseph. This house
was then owned by Cornelius Crocker, Jr., and occupied as a
public house. In front of these buildings, excepting that
occupied by the widow Freeman, there was a narrow green, on
which the militia company often paraded during the Revolutionary
struggle. In front of the Court House, and on the south side of
the street, stood the public house of Mr. Otis Loring. Between
the Court House and Loring's tavern was his blacksmith shop,
*Some of the essential features of this transaction have been the subject of controversy
between the writer of these sketches and the author of the "Hist, of Cape Cod." The
latter, writing with much apparent feelinff, and in a tone of bitter denunciation, (See Hist.
C. C, Vol. 11, pp. 305-306,) controverts the assumption of Mr. Otis, that this outrage was
committed by Whig sympathizers, upon a Tory lady, but charges its commission upon the
Tories and their loyalist associates, against one who sympathized with the Whigs. The
fact that the outrage was committed upon Mrs. Freeman is not disputed. In support of
his views, Mr. Freeman quotes Dr. James Thacher, a native of the town and a contem-
porary of the events in controversy. It seems very singular that two such well-infonaed
writers as Mr. Otis and Mr. Freeman should have taken such entirely opposite views of
a transaction of which it would seem that the truth could easily have been arrived at by
men of their opportunities of jud^ng; and it has been the purpose of the writei- of this
note, to investigate the subject, with a view of endeavoring to set the transaction right;
but documentary evidence in the case has not been available to him. He deems it
proper, however, to here remark upon this strange contradiction, with an expression of
the hope that future investigation may place the matter in controversy in its true
light. [See pp. 2334.] S.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 229
not in the dii-ect line between, but a little eastward. The Sturgis
tavern, which has been described, is about three hundred yards
eastward from the Court House, and on the south side of the road.
TJiere has been only one change in the location of the buildings in
this vicinity since 1775 — the Loring tavern has been taken down.
In 1774 Loring made an addition to his house, in order to induce
the justices of the courts to stop with him. During the Revolution
his house was the head-quarters of the tories, and the Sturgis
house of the whigs.
The. exciting incidents which occurred in that vicinity, are
popularly known as the "Crocker quarrels," though others beside
the Croekers took part in them. The scene of the Indian Dream
was laid in that vicinity ; the Liberty pole, cut down by sacrileg-
ious hands, stood at the west end of the Green; the widow
Freeman was tarred and feathered thereon, the difHculties between
Cols. Freeman and Otis, and the Croekers, occurred there, and in
the house of Cornelius Crocker, Jr., fronting thereon, and the
defiant passage at arms, between Otis Loring and the Vigilance
Committee, in the Blacksmith's shop. The bitter feelings of
personal hostility which these incidents engendered, has no
parallel on Cape Cod, if the case between the Clarks and the
Winslows of Harwich, be excepted. Even now, individuals may
be found who are ready "to shoulder their crutches, and show
how the battles" were fought.
The Indian Dreame. On a fine morning, just before the
Declaration of Independence, the villagers found under the
latchets of their doors, a small pamphlet entitled "An Indian
Dream, drempt on Cape Cod, intended as a satire upon the lead-
ing men of the County, particularly on the justices of the Court
of Common Sessions. It was written with much ability, and its
witty allusions commended it to the young and the old, and to
men of all parties.
The Indian said, "I dreamed that I was in the spirit world,
that I saw a long bench, with twelve antient . men sitting thereon.
(The twelve justices of the Court.) I inquired who they were,
and was informed that they had just arrived from the lower world,
and that Satan (a nickname of Otis Loring) had added an apart-
ment to his domain for their special accommodation. I asked,
who is that venerable man sitting at the head of the bench.
(Col. James Otis.) I was told that he was their Chief in the
nether world, that in early life he was a painter and glazier by
trade,* that he afterwards peddled goods to customers, and law
to clients, that his tribe had made him a chief sachem ; but of
late he thought himself to be the best paddler in canoe of State."
* This fact I have never seen stated in any biograpliy of Col. James Otis. It was
during the time he travelled from house to house paintinff and repairing the ancient dia-
mond glass windows, that be laid the foundation of his influence and usefalness.
230 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
In this manner the Indian described, in his dream, the twelve
justices. He called no one by name ; but described some peculiar
trait in the character of each, so that the individual intended was
known. t
The pamphlet caused much excitement at the time, and was
considered a tory document. The secret of the authorship was
well kept ; no legal proof could be obtained respecting the author
or the printer. It was a caustic satire on many who were after-
wards leading whigs, and they never forgot it, or forgave the
Crockers who were the reputed authors. Why this was so, it
seems difficult to determine, for tories came in for their full share
of the satire. If that pamphlet had emanated from a different
source, I am inclined to the opinion that it would have been differ-
ently received. It was the allusions therein to the private char-
acters of the individuals that gave offence. "The Body of the
People" prevented the same justices from holding, by virtue of
authority emanating from the King, their court in Barnstable. J
The Committee arrested, or attempted to arrest, others who were
satirized in the pamphlet. Private considerations probably had an
influence in giving to Mr. Otis Loring so prominent a position m
the Dream. He kept an opposition tavern, and had then recently
enlarged his house, and was endeavoring to induce the Coui:t to
stop with him.
Mr. Loring was an outspoken and decided tory. He made
no attempt to conceal his opinions. When the Vigilance Commit-
tee, of whom Col. Freeman was the Chairman, came to arrest
him, he went into his blacksmith's shop and laid a long bar of
iron across the fire, and heated the central portion to a read heat.
His friends had given him notice of the approach of the Com-
mittee, and when they arrived he was prepared for them. He
stood before his shop door holding the bar by either end. With-
out burning their fingers, it would have been diflScult for them to
have made an immediate arrest. He politely said, "gentlemen, I
am ready for you, come on." Finding him determined to resist,
they went away, without maliing an arrest. At another time, Mr.
Loring was concealed in a chamber of his house for several days,
to avoid arrest.
It does not appear that Mr. Loring or the Crockers had
committed any overt or open act of treason. They had freely
1 1 read this pamphlet when a school hoy fifty years ago, and I cannot Touch for the
verhal accuracy of the words placed in quotation marks. Henry Crocker, Esq., now of
Boston, sat on the same bench with me, had the pamphlet, and I read it in the school room
and have not since seen it. About the year 1824,1 had a conversation with Sarali La^vrence
respecting it. She said, "the people said that my brother Josiah wrote it, that it was
printed in Boston, brought from there in the packet, and the night following a copy was
laid at the door of each man in the village." Her manner induced me to believe at tlie
time, that there was truth in the common report, though she did not so state.
JThe original papers on this subject have been preserved, and I intended to have
printed them, with fac similes of the signatures ; but the publication must be deferred.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 231
expressed their own opinions, usually in their own houses, and
however obnoxious such opinions may have been to others, a
sound policy did not demand the arrest or imprisonment of such
men. Treason should be nipped in its bud ; but perfect freedom
to debate on matters of policy is the unalienable right of a free
people.
The "Crocker Quarrels."
Almost every evening, in these exciting times, the whigs met
at their headquarters in the Sturgis tavern, to hear the news, and
discuss current political events, and words often ran high. One
evening a large company had assembled, Capt. Samuel Crocker,
and his brothers Cornelius and Josiah were present, Col.
Nathaniel Freeman of Sandwich, the late Capt. Samuel Taylor of
Yarmouth, and others were present. The sub.iect of the conver-
sation was politics. The principal speakers were Col. Freeman
and Capt. Samuel Crocker. The latter was a whig, and one of
the most efficient of the party in Barnstable, being frequently on
Committees, and was a very able and intelligent man. He
opposed the system of espionage which had been established, not
only as useless, but as calculated to do injury to the cause of the
country. Inquiring of the aged whether they had tea concealed
in their houses, and of. young ladies whether they were whig or
tory, he said was a duty not required of the patriot or the states-
man.
Others of the company opposed both Capt. Crocker and Col.
Freeman. Words ran high. The Colonel was ardent and
zealous — of a nervous temperament and opposition kindled his
ii'e. Capt. Crocker, when excited, was earnest and irascible, and
would not submit to be told that the moderate measures that he
advocate^ was toryism in disguise. Crimination lead to re-crimin-
ation, and re-crimination to personal violence. Some of the
company vented their spleen against the Crockers by breaking
down the fence in front of the house.
Opprobious epithets never make proselytes ; like the over-
charged gun, they are apt to recoil. The violent political discus-
sions of those days, prove no more this, that the convictions of
the people were deep — that they were in earnest and that in their
earnestness they sometimes over-stepped the bounds of pru-
dence.
If the difficulties between the Crockers and the Freemans had
ended as they begun, only in the use of intemperate language,
the remembrance of their dissentions would have long since been
buried in oblivion.
Not long afterwards the militia company paraded on the
Court House Green. Cols. Nathaniel Freeman and Joseph Otis
were both present. They were both unpopular with the soldiers.
232 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
for what reason I am unable to say, probably on account of the
differences in political sentiments which then prevailed, already ex-
plained in the account of parties in Barostable. According to
military usuages, when they passed through the lines, the soldiers
should have presented arms. Instead of extending to them this
token of respect, due to them as superior officers, every soldiei',
at a given signal, clubbed his musket. || This was received, as it
was intended, as a token of disrespect, as an insult from the
officers and soldiers of the Company to their superiors. Col.
Otis turned to Capt. Samuel Crocker, and said in a defiant tone,
"The Croekers are at the bottom of this." "You lie, sir," was
the response. Col. Otis immediately raised his cane and struck
Capt. Crocker a severe blow, which he returned. The spectators
interfered, but before they were parted several blows were inter-
changed. Simultaneously, Col. Freeman made the same charge
against Cornelius Crocker, Jr., who had gone or was going into
his house. Col. Freeman followed him into the west room and
made three passes at him with his cutlass. Fortunately neither
of them took effect ; but some one called out that Col. Freeman
had cut down Nell Crocker, at which Elijah Crocker rushed from
the ranks into the house, and, with fixed boyonet, swore he would
revenge the blood of his uncle. Dr. Samuel Savage was stand
ing in the doorway, and grasping the bayonet, turned it on one
side, and with the assistance of others in the house, prevented
young Crocker from executing his threat.
One or more of the blows aimed by' Col. Freeman at Cornelius
Crocker, Jr., took effect on the "summer-beam" of the house,
and the deep incision made therein showed the force with which
the blows were struck. These marks remained till the house was
taken down, about fifty years ago, and were often examined by
visitors. 1tf>
The difficulty between Col. Otis and Capt. Crocker was satis-
factorily, adjusted and settled. That between Col. Freeman and
the Croekers never. The only palliation for the offence is, it was
done hastily and in a moment of uncontrolable excitement, caused
by a palpable insult to him as a man and an officer. There is no
other excuse — it cannot be justified — a man's house is his castle,
his sanctuary, and he that invades it, without legal authority,
commits an outrage on the rights of others. The tory proclivi-
ties of Cornelius Crocker, Jr., did not warrant Col. Freeman in
II Clubbing Arms. I am profoundly ignorant of military terms, and cannot say whether
this is a teclinical or cant phrase. I am told that it ii the reverse of shoulder arms,— that
the breach is elevated across the shoulder, and the muzzle grasped as a club is held.
Note. — Attention has been called to the statement found on page 224 which says of
Benjamin Crocker, "He probably married for his third wife in 1759, Annie Handy of Sand-
wich." Ibis is rendered inprobable, by the fact that the inscription upon their grave-
stones in the burying-gi-ound at Marston's Mills represent liim as dying in 1785, and his
wife, Bathsheba, in 1808, surviving him twenty-three years. S.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 233
drawing his sword on an unarmed man, nor did the act of Col.
Freeman warrant the act of Elijah Crocker in rushing upon him
with fixed bayonet.
I have repeatedly heard aged men, who took an active part in
the stirring events of those times, not only justify the act, but
refer to it as an evidence of the patriotic zeal of Col. Freeman.*
He had numerous adherents, more zealous than himself, who
counselled no concession. The Crockers had also many friends.
The wound might at first have been healed ; but frequent irrita-
tions caused it to fester, and its virus spread through the village,
parish, and town, causing divisions in families, and alienation of
old friends. The children and friends of the parties ever enter-
tained a bitter hostility towards each other, and their grand-
children, the men of the present generation, are sensitive on the
subject, and refer to it with painful interest.
Tar and feathering. Abigail Freeman, baptized in the East
Church Sept. 21, 1729, was a daughter of Thomas Davis of
Barnstable. The few among the aged who remember her, call
her the Widow Nabby Freeman. April 8, 1753, at the tender age
of fifteen, she married David Freeman of Fairfield, Conn. His
mother, who was a Sturgis, had married for her second husband.
Job Gorham, and it appears that some of her children came with
her to Barnstable. Abigail had a son born March 25, 1757,
named Thomas Davis Freeman, and she became a widow soon
after that date. She united with the East Church March 26,
1758, and continued to be a member, of good standing, till the
close of her life in November, 1788.
She resided in the ancient dwelling house probably built by
Joseph Lothrop, Esq., that stood next east of the new Court
House, where Judge Day now resides. Early in life she became a
widow and had to rely on her own unaided exertions to procure
the means of subsistence. She kept a small grocery store, and
being an outspoken tory, refused to surrender her small stock of
tea, to be destroyed by the Vigilance Committee. She was talka-
tive, a fault not exclusively confined to her sex, was a frequent
visitor at the house of Otis Loring, made no attempt to conceal
her tory principles, and was sometimes severe in her denunciation
of the acts of leading whigs. Her course was not patriotic and
not to be commended. Even at the present day (1863) there are
persons who condemn, with' more severity, the acts of our govern-
ment and the leading politicians, than did Abigail Freeman during
the Revoluntionai-y struggle ; yet no sane man would consider it
wise or expedient to enact laws, restraining the freedom of speech
in regard to the policy of measures, or the motives of individuals.
*I must confess that I have myself used this argument. I had not then investigated
the facts and circumstances of the case. In truth, there Is only one essential fact, and that
is, the assault. No one denies it, and the* question turns on this point; did the circum-
stances justify the act? T once thought they did. I now think otherwise.
234 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Some of our Revolutionary fathers in Barnstable, thought differ-
ently and acted differently. Abigail Freeman was an eye sore to
them. , She kept a little grocery store, saw many persons, and
would keep her tongue in motion whenever and wherever she
could find a listener. Doctors Freeman and Smith, for whom she
had a strong antipathy, some of the Crockers with whom she had
a private quarrel, and some of the radical whigs, resolved that a
bridle should be put upon lier tongue. Ducking stools, for the
cure of scolds and unquiet women, had then gone out of use, and
the then modern invention of tarring and feathering, and riding
on a rail, were in vogue. Perhaps it is well that the names of the
individuals who took part in this courteous ceremony were not
recorded. They were all young men, and acting in the shade of
night, perhaps were not recognized in the disguises which they
assumed.
When they came to the house of Mrs. Freeman she had
retired for the night. They obtamed an entrance, took her from
her bed to the Green, besmeared her with tar and covered her
with feathers. A rail was procured from a fence in the vicinity,
across which she was set astride, and either end thereof was
placed on the shoulder of a stout youth. She was held in her
position by a man who walked at her side, holding her by the
hand. When they were tired of the sport, and after they had
exacted from her a promise that she would no more meddle in
politics, they released her, and the gallant band soon after sneaked
homeward..
Though some who took an active part in this demonstration —
this visible argument for personal liberty and the freedom of
speech — disliked to be known as participators ; yet a strong party
in Sandwich and Barnstable justified the act.
No apologist for this can now be found ; but before condemn-
ing the participators, we must take into consideration the mitigat-
ing circumstances. Its respectability and influence, if not actual
participators, countenanced and supported those that were.
Allowance must also be made for the excitement of the times, and
that men acting under the influence of such excitement, often do
things which they afterwards regret. The Widow Freeman was a
thorn in their sides — she could out-talk any of them, was fascinat-
ing in her manners, and had an influence which she exerted,
openly and definantly, against the patriotic men who were then
hazzarding their fortunes and their lives in the struggle for
American independence. Sitting quietly at our firesides we may
condemn such acts, and, as moralists say, the end does not justify
the means. Perhaps if we were placed in the same circumstance
that our fathers were, we should do as they did. These consid-
erations are not presented as a .justification of the gross and
shameless violation of the personal rights of Widow Abigail
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 235
Freeman, but as mitigating circumstances which should temper
the verdict of public opinion.
Col. James Otis attempted to heal the difficulties in town and
reconcile the parties, and h^ partially succeeded. Deacon Bacon
and Coi. Freeman were his Idnsmen, and his age and the eminent
services which he had rendered to the town and County, entitled
his opinions to high consideration. At a town meeting held May
21, 1776, he made, what the records call, an "apology ! " and the
town voted to hear a part of it, but not "that part relating to
Abigail Freeman and the Crocker's quarrel." The reason for
making this distinction is apparent, Dea. Bacon was the repre-
sentative elect of the town. Joseph Otis, and others, had peti-
tioned the General Court that he be ejected from his seat, and
therefore any matter relative to Deacon Bacon's qualifications or
to the petition, was pertinent ; but neither Abigail nor the
Crockers stood in the same relation to the town, and therefore the
inhabitants, as a town, had nothing to do with their quarrels.
These votes show that the men of those days thought and acted
independently, and that they could not be persuaded to act in
opposition to what they believed to be the right course of action,
even by cne who had been President of the first continental Con-
gress at Watertown.
Mr. Cornelius Crocker died Dec. 12, 1784, aged 80. His
wife, Mrs. Lydia Crocker, died Aug. 5, 1773, aged 68. His will
is dated April 6, 1782, and the codicil thereto Feb. 10, 1784.
His sons Elijah and Elisha were then dead, and are not named.
To Samuel he gave "all his land lying westward and northward of
the way that leads from the County road, near his son Cornelius's
dwelling house, to Rendevous Creek, with the dwelling house in
which he now lives, and all other buildings standing on the
premises," with one half of the fish house and the land on which
it stood, one half of his wharf, and one half of the way to the
same. His son Joseph was dead. To his widow, Elizabeth, he
gave a right in the house he devised to the sons of his son Josiah,
and to his grand-daughter Mary £30 in silver money. To his
daughter. Widow Lydia Sturgis, he gave the westerly part of the
dwelling house where he then lived, and one half of the
furniture. To Cornelius he gave one half of his fish house,
half of his wharf, £15 in silver money, and all the debts
he then owed him. In consideration of tlie larger proportion of
the estate given to Samuel, the latter was to make no demand on
Cornelius, Jr., for debts due. His son Josiah was then dead.
To his grand-sons, Robert, Uriel, and Josiah, the house in which
their father Josiah had lived, with one and one half acres of
land, being the east part of his homestead next the lane, and
£6 each when 21 ;. to his two grand-daughters, Deborah and
Mehitable, children of his son Josiah. £6 each in silver money.
236 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
To his daughter, Widow Sarah Lawrence £30 iu silver, his desk,
one half of his furniture, and one quarter of his pew in the East
Meeting House.
He made Samuel, Cornelius, and'Lydia, his residuary lega-
tees, giving them his grist mill, the easterly part of his dwelling-
house, wood-lots and meadows and all his other real and personal
estate not otherwise specifically devised. His will was witnessed
by Edward Bacon and his wife Rachael, and Mercy Crocker.
The sons and daughters of Cornelius Crocker were all per-
sons of more than ordinary intellectual vigor. Josiah received a
public education, and all of the family were well educated for the
times. They were close observers of passing events, and were
all distinguished for their conversational powers, and their ready
command of language. The children of Cornelius Crocker, born
in Barnstable, were : 1, Elijah, born April 12, 1729; 2, Elisha,
born Sept. 14, 17.30. Both died in early life, and are not named
in the will of their father. 3, Samuel, born July 29, 1732 ; 4,
Joseph, born April 12, 1734; 5, Lydia, April 14, 1739; 6,
Cornelius, born Aug. 21, 1740; 7, Josiah, born Dec. 20, 1744,
and 8, Sarah, whose name is not on the town records, born in the
year 1749.
Capt. Samuel Crocker, son of Cornelius, a man of note dur-
ing the Revolutionary struggle, man-ied April 8, 1753, by David
Gorham, Esq., Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Samuel Lumbert.
She died of consumption June 13, 1757, aged 27. He married,
for his second wife, her sister Anna, May 29, 1760. His children
were: 1, Abigail, July 1, 1753; 2, Elijah, Oct. 27, 1755; 3,
Elizabeth, Feb. 24, 1767; 4, Anna, April 7,1766; 5, Elisha,
Aug. 30, 1767 ; 6, Ezekiel, Jan. 20, 1770 ; and 7, Susanna, July
7, 1773. Elijah, I think, died early in life. Elizabeth lived to
be aged, and died unmarried. Anna married Isaac Bacon, Jr.,
July 1, 1793, died early leaving a large family. Elisha was a sea
captain, had a family, and resided in the ancient gambrel roofed
house on Rendevous Lane. He died May 15, 1817. Ezekiel, the
last survivor of the family, married Temperance Phinney Dec. 28,
1794 ; kept a public house where Judge Day now resides.
Susannah, married .July 14, 1796, John Bursley, father of the
present David Bursley, Esq., and was the mother of a numerous
family.
Joseph Crocker, son of Cornelius, married Jan. 12, 1758,
Elizabeth Davis. He had Joseph Nov. 15, 1760, who died young,
and Mary born Dec. 28, 1763. He died early. His widow died
Feb. 7, 1811, aged 75, and her daughter Mary or Polly married
Isaac Lothrop Oct. 1796.
Lydia, daughter of Cornelius, married April 3, 1760, Capt.
Samuel Sturgis, 3d. He was a captain of ^ Company at Cape
Breton, and died Aug. 9, 1762, aged 25. She died April 9, 1825,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 237
aged 86, having lived a widow 62 years and 8 months. She was
born in the house which has been named, near the Agricultural
Hall ; but resided nearly all her life in the house where she died,
and widely known as "Aunt Lydia's tavern." She had an only
child, Sally, who married Daniel Crocker. He died. April 22,
1811, aged 49. She died Oct. 3, 1837, aged 77, leaving many
descendents. A grandson, Barnabas Davis, Esq., of Boston,
now owns the ancient tavern.
Cornelius Crocker, Jr., married Abiah Hinckley. He had
two sons ; Naler, born in 1773, many years one of the selectmen
and town clerk of Barnstable. He died March 28, 1829, he had
a son Henry, now living, and a dauighter Abiah, first wife of
Enoch T. Cobb. Cornelius also had a son Asa, born in 1776.
He taught a school in Barnstable several years and died unmarried
April 17, 1822, aged 46. Cornelius Crocker, Jr., died early, and
his widow Abiah survived him many years, dying June 7, 1823,
aged 77. For many years she kept a tavern in the dwelling house
now owned by Dr. Allen, and in the more ancient house that
stood on the same spot. She was a strong-minded, intelligent
woman, and of good business capacity. One anecdote respecting
her illustrates her character for firmness. After the death of her
husband Col. Freeman called at her house on a court week, and
asked to have lodgings. Her reply was, "my house is full, sir."
"But," said the Col. "my friends put up here, and I would like to
be with them." Her reply was, "my house is full, sir." Col.
F., a little excited, said, "madam, you are licensed to keep a
public house, and are bound to accommodate travellers and per-
sons attending the Courts." "Yes," said she, "but, if my house
was not full, (pointing to the marks on the summer beam) there
would be no room for Col. Freeman." To this he responded,
"It is time to forget those old matters and bury the hatchet."
"Yes," said Mrs. Crocker, "but the aggressor should dig the
grave.
Joseph Crocker, son of Cornelius, graduated at Harvard
College in 1765. He did not take the degree of Master of Arts.
He resided in the two story single house east of his sister Lydia's
tavern, and afterwards owned by Freeman Hinckley. He taught
a school some little time in Barnstable ; but on account of his
feeble health and tory proclivities, was not much, if any, in public
life. He married Oct. 6, 1765, immediately after leaving college,
Deborah, daughter of Hon. Daniel Davis, and had five children,
Robert, Uriel, Josiah, Deborah, and Mehitable. He died of
consumption May 4, 1780, in the 36th year of his age, and is
buried in the new grave yard on Cobb's Hill. His widow married
Benjamin Gorham, Jr., and had by him Abigail, who married
Aug. 4, 1803, Capt. Henry Bacon. Uriel Crocker settled in
Boston, and has a son of the same name now living. Deborah
238 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OE BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
married John Lotlirop ; Mehitable, Joseph Parker. The Wkl.
Deborah Gorham died in 1818, aged 72.
Sally or Sarah, daughter of Cornelius, married Capt. David
Lawrence, after a very brief eourtsliip. He was a sea captain,
and was the first who displayed the Stars and Stripes in the port
of Bristol, England. Dea. Joseph Hawes of Yarmouth, was his
mate. Capt. Lawrence was consumptive and was unable to per-
form his duties during the voyage, and died soon after his return,
on the 3d of October, 1783, aged 35 years. She survived till
Feb. 21, 1825, when she died, aged 76. Mrs. Lawrence was
distinguished for her conversational power. She had read all the
current literature of the day. Her friends were among the lead-
ing men of the times, and she was well versed in local history,
and in all the leading topics of conversation in her day. Her
wit was keen and cut without seeming to give offence. She was
not fastidious, and the point of her wit was never blunted in order
to avoid an allusion which prudery might condemn. She was
open, candid, and decided in all her opinions, and in the expres-
sion of them, her wit often sparkled with a brilliancy that silenced
opposition. Her instantaneous reply to Col. Freeman and other
members of the Whig Vigilance Committee, when they inquired of
her whether she was whig or tory, was of this character, and will
be long remembered. She belonged to the same school of politics
with her brother Samuel, and held that the asking of young ladies
such questions was not only uncalled for ; but impertinent. Her
most cutting rebuke consisted of only four words ; and that com-
mittee never forgot them, and ever after treated her with the
most marked respect. I have often heard her relate the story,
but the reply she made was always pronounced in a suppressed
tone of voice.
She lived a widow over forty-one years, and her house was
the resort of numerous friends who appreciated her talents and
listened with delight to her conversation. Intellectually she never
grew old. She could, without seeming effort, adapt herself to the
old and the young, the gay and the religious. She could discuss the
merits of the last novel, or the doctrines of the last sermon. Her
friends and relatives always treated her with marked respect, and
the survivors still fondly cherish her memory.
She had a son William, who was a hatter, and died early ; and
Lucy, who married Holmes Allen, Esq. He built the house now
owned by Mr. Frederick Cobb. He was a lawyer, a man esteemed
for his talents and legal knowledge ; but unfortunately became in-
temperate, and died in early life, leaving an only child, Heni-y
Holmes Allen, born Aug. 14, 1801. He was three days my sen-
ior. We were school-mates and play-fellows in early life, and as-
sociates in manhood. He was honest and honorable ; kind, gen-
erous, sympathetic — a man who never had an enemy. He married
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 239
Abigail T. Gorham, daughter of Edward. She died early, and he
soon after died in foreign lands ; but his body lies entombed beside
that of his wife. He left no issue, and having no near relatives, he
devised his estate to the Fraternal Lodge, of which he was an
active member.
(23) Thomas Crocker, son of Dea. Job Crocker, born 19th
Jan. 1674, married '23d Dec. 1701, Elizabeth Lothrop, widow of
"John Lothrop, son of Barnabas Lothrop, Esq." She was the
eldest child of James, son of James G-reen of Charlestown, and
was born Nov. 14, 1662, and was twelve years older than her
second husband, and five older than her first. She died in Hing-
ham Aug. 1, 1752, aged 89. By her first husband she had a son
and a daughter. The latter died earlj', and the son at 20. Mr.
Thomas Crocker resided in the East Parish, and is styled in the
records "a dealer." He died in 1718, insolvent. His indebted-
ness was large, and his creditors received from his estate 2
shillings in the pound, per cent. His children born in Barnstable
were :
91. I. Walley, 30th Julv, 1703, died 2d Oct. 1703-.
92. 11. Thomas, 26th Aug. 1704.
93. III. Walley, 26th June 1706.
His son Thomas married 1, Mehitable, daughter of Joseph
Dimmock, 1727. She died March 13, 1728-9, and he married 2d,
Oct. 20, 1730, Rebecca, daughter of Benjamin Hamblin. Mr.
Thomas Crocker died Dec. 5, 1756, aged 51, and his wife May 9,
1756, aged 46. He resided in the easterly part of the West
Parish. His children were : 1, Walley, born Feb. 28, 1727-8 died
Aug. 23, following; 2, Elizabeth, born 5th Dec. 1731 ; 3, Sarah,
born 26th Feb. 1733-4; 4, Rebecca, 30th Nov. 1735; 5, Hope,
March 1738 ; 6, Thomas, 23d Jan. 1740 ; 7, Esther, 28th Aug.
1743; 8, Barnabas, 26th Oct. 1746; 9, Huckins, 15th March,
1748 ; 10, Mary, 31st Aug. 1753. Elizabeth of this family
married, in 1757, George Conant, and died Sept. 17, 1759 ; Sarah,
married. May 19, 1757, Joseph Blish, Jr. ; Rebecca married Oct.
25, 1757, Lemuel Nye, Jr., of Sandwich; Barnabas married at
19, March 24, 1765, Ann Smith ; Mary died unmarried.
Walley Crocker, son of Thomas, married, Oct. 22, 1730,
Abigail, daughter of John Annable. He had born in Barnstable :
1, Abigail, Nov. 2, 1731; 2, Temperance, Dec. 18, 1733; 3,
Walley, April 18, 1737. Temperance married April 5, 1759,
Daniel Carpenter.
(25) Dea. John Crocker, son of Dea. Job, born 24, 1683,
married 11th Nov. 1704, Hannah. She died 10th Oct. 1720, and
he married 2d, 22d June, 1721, Mary Hinckley, living in 1731.
It appears that he married a third wife Nancy, her grave stones
record her death July 27, 1744, aged 56. Dea. John Crocker
died Feb. 7, 1773, .aged 89 years and 11 months, (grave stones).
240 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
He resided on the westerly part of his father's farm, and was
many years a deacon of the West Church. His children born in
Barnstable were :
94. I. Abigail, born oth Oct. 1705, married Oct. 28, 1731,
George Howland. She joined the West Church in 1728,
and after marrige was dismissed to Deerfield.
95. 11. Zaccheus, Aug. 1, 1707, married 1734, Elizabeth Reals
of Hiugham. His children were, Joshua, born Aug. 6,
1735 ; Zaccheus Dec. 1737 ; Sylvanus, baptized Feb. 19,
1739, and Hannah born June 21, 1743.
96. in. John, 27 July 1710; died 30th May, 1711.
97. IV. Ebenezer, Nov. 1, 1713, married July 26, 1739,
Elizabeth Lovell, Jr., and had James Feb. 19, 1739-40; 2,
Mary, Nov. 7, 1744. He married in 1746, Zerviah, daugh-
ter of Kenelm Winslow, Esq., of Harwich, and had 3,
\ Alvan Friday, 6th Nov. 1747 ; 4, Ashsah Monday, 24th
July, 1749 ; 5, Ebenezer Thursday, 26th July, 1753, died
Feb. 17, 1817; 6, Zerviah Wednesday, 17th July 1751 ; 7,
Joshua Friday, 4th July 1755; 8, Kenelm Sunday, 14th
Aug. 1757; 9, George Monday 18th Feb. 1760; 10, Zenas
Friday, 25th Dec. 1761 ; 11, Heman, April 14, 1764.
There were four Ebenezer Crockers. The 1st son of Josiali
died in 1723 ; 2d, a son of Saumel, born 1719, removed to
East Haddam 1751 ; 3, a son of Dea. John, born in 1713 ; 4, a
son of Ebenezer, born 1723. Ebenezer, son of John, resided at
Cotuit, and the house which he built there is still owned by his
descendants.
John, baptized Oct. 16, 1715.
98. V. Elizabeth, baptized Aug. 10, 1718.
99. VI. Jabez, 16th June, 1720, died 11th Dec. 1720.
100. VII. John, 1st April, 1722.
101. VIII. Job, 29th March, 1724.
102. IX. Daniel, 1st March, 1725-6, married three wives, 1,
Elizabeth Childs, May 19, 1748 ; 2, Phebe Winslow of Har-
wich, 1755 ; and 3, Bathsheba Jenkins. His children were,
1, Job, born May 6, 1749, removed to Western New York,
and has descendants; 2, Winslow, Dec. 31, 1755, resided
at West Barnstable, married Blush, had a family.
Edward W. Crocker of Yarmouth, is of this family ; 3,
Elizabeth, March 14, 1770, she married, 1, Heman Crocker.
Her son, Oliver Crocker, Esq., of New Bedford is now
living, and 2, Elisha Euggles, of Rochester ; 4, Daniel,
March 8, 1762, married Sally Sturgis, and had a family ; 5,
Mary, July 11, 1767, married James Davis; 6, Abigail,
Nov. 6, 1769, married Ebenezer Bacon, Esq. ; 7, Joseph,
Jan. 27, 1771, married Joanna Bacon, and had Walter,
James, and others now living; 8, Prince, Sept. 6, 1772,
GENEALOICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 241
married Martha Nye, and has descendants living. Joseph
and Prince owned and occupied the ancient Crocker house,
and both lived to extreme old age. 9, Temperance, born
July 28, 1776, married Ezra Crocker; 10, David, Feb. 21,
1779, married Rachell Bacon, and his sons Eben, Frederick
and Henry, and daughter Caroline, are now living; 11,
Josiah, Aug. 24, 1781, died unmarried at New Orleans.
103-. X. Timothy, Aug. 23, 1728.
104. XI. Jonathan, born Nov. 22, 1731, mawied May 2, 1754,
Sarah Childs. He died of the small pox Dec. 4, 1796, and
his wife Sarah of the same disease Dec. 16, 1796. He was
the iirst buried in the Crocker burying ground. He has
descendants living.
(30) David Crocker, Esq., youngest son of Dea. Job
Crocker, born 5th Nov. 1697, graduate of Harvard College 1716,
resided on the John Crocker farm at West Barnstable. He was
many years town Clerk, transcribed the ancient town records, now
lost. The records of the births of the Crockers he arranged
genealogically. He was many years one of the board of select-
men, and in 1742 a justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He
died in 1764, aged 67 years. He married 12th Nov. 1724,
Abigail, daughter of Mr. David Loring, and Jan. 27, 1757, Mrs.
Mary Stuart. His children were :
105. I. A son, born Jan. 9, 1725, died Feb. 19, 1725.
106. n. David, April 14, 1726, died June 28, 1734.
107. III. Abigail, May 20, 1728, married Jan. 10, 1754, Seth
Blossom.
108. IV. William, Dec. 8, 1730 (called Jr.) He resided in the
house which was his father's. He belonged to the East
Parish, and was a member of the East Church. He married
twice, 1st in 1753 Lydia Knowles of Eastham. She died
April 16, 1764, and he married 2d, Sept. 30, 1764, Mary
Cobb, Jr. He died May 3, 1819, in his 89th year, and she
died May 20, 1817, aged 85; His children born in Barn-
stable were: 1, Abigail, March 15,1754; 2, David, Aug.
23, 1755 ; 3, Temperance, Jan. 2, 1763 ; 4, Sarah, June 26,
1765; 5, Mary, Nov. 2, 1766; 6, William, Nov. 19, 1768:
7, Matthias, July 26, 1770 ; 8, Ebenezer, baptized July 26,
1772 ; 9, Loring, born March 18, 1774. Of this family,
William resided in his father's estate, and died June 24,
1844, and his brother, Dea. Ebenezer, a tanner, did also in
the first part of his life. He removed to the West, where
he died a few years since. Matthias was a hatter and
resided in Boston. Loring was largely engaged in the salt
manufacture at the common field, and died March 21, 1841.
His son Loring now owns his manufactories.
109. V. Alice, born April 18, 1757, baptized July 30th, 1758,
242 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
and in the church records called the daughter of "Squire
David and Marv Crocker."
110. VI. Hannah, Sept. 24, Wednesday [1759.J
111. VII. Sarah, Oct. 24, Tuesday, [1761.]
112. VIII. Lydia, Feb. 28, [1762] died Sept. 24, 1763.
(32) Thomas Crocker, son of Josiah, born 28th May,
1671, married 25th March, 1696, Hannah, [Green] of Boston.
He died April, 17^8, in the 67th year of his age, and is buried at
West Barnstable. He resided in the ancient stone house, as be-
fore stated. In his will he makes provision for the education of
his son Joseph at College. His wife, Hannah Crocker, died Jan.
23d, 1728-9 in the 53d year of her age. Their children born in
Barnstable were :
113. I. Tabitha, Dec. 20th, 1698.
114. II. Josiah, 21st, April 1701, died Feb. 23d, 1728-9.
115. III. Seth, 13th June, 1708, He resided at West Barn-
stable on the estate which was his father's. He married
three wives, 1, Joanna Leavet, April, 16th, 1730. She
died Aug. 4th, 1732, aged 20. 2d, Temperance Thacher of
Yarmouth, June 1st, 1734. She died j;uly 11th, 1736, aged
24. 3d, Abigail, daughter of Joseph Blush, 1742. He
died March 25th, 1770, in the 62d year of his age, and is
buried with his wives in the West Barnstable grave yard.
By his first wife he had a daughter Hannah, born July 18th,
1732, baptized July 23d, 1732. This child was of feeble
mind. By his second wife he had Thomas, born June 8th,
1735. He married in 1756, Mercy Hamblen, and about the
year 1781 removed to Lee, Mass. He had a large estate,
and has numerous descendants. There have been some re-
markable instances of longevity in this family.
116. IV. Hannah, born 8th May, 1711, married July 25th,
1744, Jabez Robinson of Falmouth?
117. V. Thankful.
118. VI, Joseph, born 1715, graduated at Harvard College,
1734. He was ordained Sept. 12, 1739, pastor of the
chm'ch and society in Sopth Eastham, now Orleans. He
died March 2d, 1772. He married twice, had Josiah, a
graduate of Harvard College, 1760 ; Lucia, who married
Ilev. Simeon William of Weymouth ; and Ann, who married
Rev. Wm. Shaw of Marshfieid. Of the family of Rev.
Josiah Crocker, the Orleans records furnish little ir^orma-
tion. His wife. Reliance, died in 1759, aged 44. He had
six children who died in infancy between 1741 and 1757.
His son Josia,li was born ^in Orleans iij 1740, graduated at
Harvard College, ,in 1'('60, arid died in, Orleans Jan. 20,
1764, aged 24. He had received a call to ijecbrrie pastor, of
tiie second Cliiiroii in Yarmouth, (iibw lieriiiis) but his sick
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 243
ness and death prevented his ordination. His father
caused a glowing eulogium to be inscribed on the monument
to his memorj in Orleans.
The bev. Joseph Crocker was a Calvinist, a hard student,
and a well read theologian. Wanting the graces of tlie
orator, he never was a popular preacher.
(38) Capt. Josiah Crocker,|Son of Josiah, born 8th Feb,
1684, married Desire, daughter of Col. John Thacher of Yar-
mouth, April 10, 1718. He was a sea captain, and while on a
voyage to Nova Scotia, was betrayed out of his course by an
Irishman who pretended to be a pilot. He and all his crew were
sick at the time. He died on board his own vessel in St. Mary's
harbor, Annapolis Rial, Oct. 10, 1721, and was buried at Port
Royal, Oct. 14, 1721, aged 37. His widow, Mrs. Desire Crocker,
died in Yarmouth, on the morning of the Sabbath, May 6, 1722,
and is buried in the ancient burying ground in Yarmouth.
He had two children born in Yarmouth.
119. I. Josiah, born 30th Oct. 1719, graduate of Harvard
College, 1738, and ordained May 19, 1742, pastor of the
church in Taunton, He entered College at the early age of
15, and was ordained at 23. He was of an ardent tempera-
ment, zealous, earnest, yet tender and persuasive in his
manner. Like other zealous men, he was not always cau-
tious in his expressions. He had many warm friends, and
some enemies. His call to the Taunton church was not
unanimous, and there were always some who opposed him.
He was dismissed from his pastoral charge Dec. 1, 1765,
but continued to reside in Taunton till his death. He was
the friend of Whitefield, and possessed some of the charac-
teristics of that eminent divine. ' His earnest, persuasive
manner, drew together a large audience when it was known
that he was to preach. It is said that a women travelled
from Plymouth on foot, carrying a child in her arms the
whole distance. When the load seemed heavy, or the way
long, she would comfort herself by crying out at the top of
her voice, "Crocker's ahead, Crocker's ahead," [See Min-
isters of Taunton.] He married twice. His first wife was
Rebecca, daughter of James AUyn of Barnstable, whom he
married July 28, 1742, She died Sept. 28, 1759. He mar-
ried Nov. 5, 1761, Hanriah, daughter of Col. Thos. Cobb of
Attieboi'ough. His children were : Josiah, Benjamin, AUyn,
Joseph, William, Ebenezer, Rebecca, Leonard, born Oct. 2,
1762, and Hahnab, Oct. 18, 176,5. He died Aug. 28, 1774,
in the 55th, arid not the 53d year of his age, as inscribed on
his tombstone. A similar mistake or two years occurs on
the monument to the memory oi his first wife. Tbe Rev.
Josiah fcrocicer iias iriany descendants in Taunton and other
244 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
places. His grand-daughter, Hannah M. Crocker, was the
author of "The Eights of Women," published in 1818.
120. II. Desire, born 17th Dec. 1721.
(39) Ebenezer, son of Josiah, born May 30, 1687, married
May 22, 1715, Hannah Hall of Yarmouth. He died 18th March,
1722-3, in the 36th year of his age. His children born in Barn-
stable were :
121. I. Mehitable, Sept. 16, 1716, married Nathan Crocker,
Jr., Dec. 27, 1739.
122. II. Hannah, Oct. 10, 1718, married Eben Childs, Jr.,
Jan. 15, 1747, died Feb. 23, 1755.
123. III. Susannah, Oct. 20, 1720, mamed George Conant,
Jan 30, 1755.
124. IV. p:benezer, March 2, 1722-3.
(43) Nathan, son of Eleazer, born 27th April, 1685, mar-
ried, 10th March, 1708-9, Joannah Bursley. He was a farmer,
and i-esided jn the old stone fort. His children were :
125. I. Jabez, born 20th June, 1709. He married, July 6,
1732, Deliverance Jones; Feb. 9, 1737-8, Mary Baker; and
afterwards Eemember Fuller, and had six children : 1 ,
Anna, March 6, 173-, married Benj. Howland March 15,
1763 ; 2, Deliverance, May 7, 1740 ; 3, Asa, Sept. 4, 1741,
4, Ruth, Aug. 25, 1743 ; 5, Lot, baptized March 31, 1745 ;
6, Mary, baptized June 21, 1747. Feb. 1750, Jabez
Crocker sold his house and the lot containing two acres on
which it stood, to his brothei- John Crocker, who was then
called third. Charles Gray now owns the laud- It was
then bounded, northerly by the high way, westerly by
Dexter's lane, southerly by land of Cornelius Dexter, and
easterly by land of Col Otis. In a mortgage deed, dated
10th May, 1746, he names his brothers, Benoni, Nathan
and John, and his cousin, John Crocker, Jr.
126. II. Benoni, born 24th Feb. 1711-12, married, Feb. 19,
1736, Abigail, daughter of John Bursley. He inherited the
old stone fort in which he resided, and to which he made an
addition. His childred were: 1, Lemuel, born March 1,
1737, married Sarah Backus of Sandwich, 1763 ; 2, Barna-
bas. (There is a blank in the record which I fill with the
name of Barnabas. Benoni had a son of that name for
whom he made the addition to his house.) 3, Abigail,
born May 22d, 1745 ; 4, Abner, Aug. 18th, 1747.
127. III. Nattian, born 7th March 1713-14, married Mehitable,
daughter of Ebenezer Crocker, Dec. 27th, 1739, and had
ten children: 1, Enoch, June 1st, 1741; 2, Susannah,
April 9th, 1743 ; 3, Deborah, March 30th, 1745 ; 4, Aru-
bah, Aug. 14th 1747; 5, Elijah, Feb. 11th, 1749; 6,
Nathan, Aug. 10th 1753; 7, Jonathan, March 23d, 1756;
qenkaLogioal notes oe SarnsTable families. 245
8, Mehitable, June 8, 1768 ; 9, David, March 15th, 1761.
128. IV. Isaac, born 6th May, 1719, married, Mafch 22d,
1738-9, Elizabeth Fuller, and had 1, Ansel, Aug. 27th,-
1739 ; 2, Rebecca, March 24th, 1740 ; 3, Thomas, Sept. 19th,
1743; 4, Josiah, Oct. 14th, 1762 ; 5, Ansel, Jan. 22d,
1767. The names of the two last are added by a late town
clerk.
129. V. John, 11th Jan. 1721-2. His father, in a deed to him,
dated Oct. 12th, 1744, calls him 3d. He was in the ex"
pedition to Cape Breton, and to distinguish him from the
others of the same name, was called Cape Breton John.
130. VI. Temperance, born Oct. 3d, 1724, married Joseph
Annable, Dec. 31st, 1744.
(52) William Crocker, son of Joseph, born 25th Aug.
1679, married, by Justice Skiff of Sandwich, Nov. 1705, his
cousin, Mary Crocker, daughter of Josiah. He died in 1741,
in the 62d year of his age, his mother. Temperance, a daughter of
the first John Bursley, was then living. In his will dated Feb.
10th, 1740-1, proved July 8th, 1741, names his wife Mary his sons
William and Joseph, to whom he gives his West Barnstable es-
tate ; and Benjamin, to whom he devises his lands in Sandwich,
and meadows at Scorton. He also named his daughters, Mercy
Blush and Mary Beals, and his "Hon'd mother Temperance
Crocker," who then retained the improvement of his estate. He
had children born in Barnstable, namely :
131. I. Mercy, 22d Sept. 1706, married Joseph Blush Oct.
28th, 1730.
132. II. A son, born 20th June, 1708, died July 4, 1708.
133. III. A daughter, still born, Aug. 3, 1709.
134. IV. William, born 9th Sept. 1710. He resided at West
Barnstable, and married, in 1743, Hannah Baker, and had
twelve children. He is called Mr. in the town records, then
a token of respect, and his wife Mrs. Only four are named
on the town records ; but the names of all are on the church
records. 1, Marj' (called Mercy on the church records)
born March 25, 1745 ; 2, William, Feb. 6, 1744, died young ;
3, Martha, Nov. 28, 1748; 4, Temperance, Jan. 22, 1749;
5, Hannah, baptized April 22, 1751 ; 6, Josiah, July 5,
1752; 7, William again, Oct. 1753; 8, Alice, July 27,
1755; 9, Mercy, Jan. 1, 1758; 10, Josiah, June 8, 1760;
11, Ephraim, July, 26, 1761 ; 12, Calvin, May 1764. The
latter was the late Capt. Calvin Crocker, who has descend-
ants in Barnstable.
135. V. Alice, born Sept. 1712, married Stephen Beals of
Hingham, Sept. 16, 1736. (In the abstract of his father's
will I have the name Mary, probably an error, should be
Alice.)
246 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
136. VI. Mary, bom Aug. 12, 1714.
137. VII. Joseph, bom Dec. 1718.
138. VIII. Beajamin, March 20, 1720, married Bathsheba Hall
of Yarmouth, April 1747. See 85.*
(53) Timothy, son of Joseph Crocker, born 30th April,
1681, resided at West Barnstable. He was a merchant, an ensign
in the militia, as his grave stone informs us, and a justice of the
peace. He was married 27th Oct. 1709, by Rev. Jonathan
Russell, to Mrs. Melatiah, daughter of his uncle Josiah Crocker.
His children were :
139. I. Jerusha, born 12th Dec. 1711. She married. May 19,
1741, Mr. Elijah Deane of Raynham.
140. II. Melatiah, born 19th March 1714, married, March 21,
1734, John Sturgis, Esq., of Barnstable. Her children
were, Josiah, born Oct. 17, 1737, Melatiah, Oct. 11, 1739;
Timothy Crocker, March 30, 1742 ; Lucretia, Oct. 14, 1743.
The latter did not marry. She was a well educated and
accomplished lady, resided in her grand-father Crocker's
house, and taught a school many years. A large proportion
of the aged at West Barnstable, are indebted to her for
their early education.
141. III. Bathsheba, born 2d April, 1717, married Sept. 6,
1738, Rev. Samuel Tobey of Berkley. He was born in
Sandwich in 1715, a graduate of Harvard College, 1733,
ordained Nov. 23, 1737. He had twelve children.
142. IV. Abigail, bom April 2, 1721, married Sept. 2, 1740,
Rev. Rowland Thacher, pastor of the church at Wareham.
He graduated at Harvard College in 1733.
143. V. Martha, born 26th Dec. 1724, married, Feb. 2, 1744-5,
Capt. William Davis, of Barnstable. She died Jan. 5,
1773, aged 48. Mrs. Andrews Hallett of Yarmouth, has
some fine specimens of worsted work embroidered by her
grand-mother Davis.
The dwelling house of Timothy Crocker, Esq., stood near
where Seth Parker's store now stands. It was large, two stories
high, and most substantially built. The style was that of the
wealthy among the first settlers. It fronted to the east, the gable
being towards the road, aud was probably built as early as 1660.
Who was the first owner I have been unable to ascertain. In
1686, when the road, was laid out, it appears to have been owned
and occcupied by Increase Clap ; but I doubt whether he was the
first owner. In 1649 Mr. Thomas Daxter resided in that neigh-
*In 1747 there were four Beniamin Crockers, 1, Benjamin, son of Josiah, bom in 1692,
removed to Ipswieh; 2, Benjamin, son of Josepli born in 1696; 3, Benjamin, son of Samuel,
born 1711; 4, Benjamin, son ol William, bor.i 1720. The Benjamin, who married in 1747,
Bethsheba Hall, is called Jr., and I inferi'ed from the fact, that there was then an older
man of the same name in to^vn, that the one numbered 85, X, was the person intended. I
am now inclined to think that 138, III, was the person intended. An investigation of the
wills, which I have not the time to do, will settle the question.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 247
borhood, and owned the land bordering on Dexter's Lane ; but
whether his land extended so far east, I have no means of
ascertaining. The Rowley's who removed to Falmouth about the
year 1661, owned land in the vicinity. Dea. William Crocker
owned the land on the east at the settlement of the town, and it
was afterwards owned by his son John. The exact bounds of this
land it would perhaps be now difficult to ascertain.
This ancient mansion, while owned by Timothy Crocker,
Esq., was kept in good repair, and elegantly fuinished. His
family ranked among the aristocracy of those daj's. His
daughters were well educated and accomplished ladies, and his
house was the resort of the learned and the fashionable. The
husbands of all the daughters, excepting Martha, were men who
had been liberally educated. Martha had many suitors, and some
of the tea-table talk of those days is reported by her grand-
children. She might have married one who was afterwards one of
the most distinguished and influential citizens of Barnstable.
Timothy Crocker, Esq., died Jan. 31, 1737, in the 57th year
of his age, and is buried in the West Barnstable grave yard. I
do not find the record of the death of his wife. She died a short
time previous to her husband. His will was made four days
previous to his "decease. He gave £10 to Rev. Jonathan Russell,
£10 to Mr. Joseph Crocker, Jr., and the same sum to the poor of
the town. He divides his estate equally among his daughters,
excepting to Jerusha, to whom he gave £10 over and above her
share. Mr. John Bursley was executor.
His estate was apprised at £6 607,7,2 in old tenor currency,
equal to about $3,000 in silver money. The merchandise in his
warehouse was apprised at £1,483,10; his homestead, including
all his buildings and lands, at £1,020, equal to only $460 in silver.
After the payment of his debts, there was only the real estate
and £1,949,14 2 of the personal estate remaining, equal to about
$300 in silver to each of the heirs. f
In later times the north part of the house was owned by his
grand-daughter, Lucretia Sturgis, the school mistress, a maiden
lady who is kindly remembered by the aged at West Barnstable ;
and the south pari? by Nathan Foster.
Conclusion. — Here I rest ; not because my materials are ex-
hausted, but because I am. Respecting the early families I have
studied to be accurate, to the later families I have not given so
much attention. Respecting the "Crocker Quarrels," as they are
called on the records, I have endeavored to be impartial, and have
softened many harsh expressions that I found in my notes, and
have omitted some circumstances which perhaps others may think
t The vei-y low prices at which the real estate and the furniture was apprised, indicates
that a portion of the apprisal was in lawful money — that is, that the pound was equal to
^3,33 in silver. His plate and silver was apprised at £73,10, his looking glass and p 'tures
at £5,5, and his Indian girl at £5, about two dollars. If she was worth anything, it was a
very low price to apprise her at.
'24:8 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
important. If I have fallen into errors, I shall be happy to
make the corrections. The part which the Crockers played in the
Revolution, was one not to be omitted. It could not be examined
without noticing the parts which others acted in the drama. I do
not justify the Crockers, yet I do not believe them to be the worst
of men, neither do I believe that Col. Nathaniel Freeman was a
man without fault. The facts will not justify either conclusion.
Why, then, the attempt to shield their acts from criticism. When
such attempts are made, most men think there is something wrong
at the bottom. I may attempt, by and by, to do justice to the
character of Col. Freeman as a man and patriot ; but not by
drawing a veil over his faults. A very few among the Crockers
and the Freemans object to certain portions of my article. I
was aware when writing those portions, that I was treading
on the scoria of a yet smouldering volcano, which a breath would
fan into activity. I hear the distant rumblings of the approaching
earthquake ; but do not yet fear that I shall be engulfed
thereby.
CLAP.
Extensive genealogies of the Claps have been printed.
Many of this name came over and settled in Dorchester and
vicinity. Two of the name were early in Barnstable ; but no
descendants remain. Eleazer, a son of Dea. Thomas, of Wey-
mouth and Scituate, was a soldier in King Phillip's war, and was
slain at Rehobeth March 26, 1675. He had no family in
Barnstable.
Increase, resided at West Barnstable, married, Oct. 1675
Elizabeth, Widow of Nathaniel Goodspeed, and daughter of John
Bursley. His children born in Barnstable were: 1, John, Oct.
1676 ; 2, Charitv, March, 1677 ; 3, Thomas, Jan. 1681, died Jan.
1683 ; 4, Thomas, Dec. 1684.
Increase Clap's house was on the south side of the road a
little east of Dexter's lane. He purchased his estate probably of
the Rowleys, when they removed to Falmouth, who were earlj'
settlers in that neighborhood, and was a proprietor of the com-
mon lands "in Rowley's right." He was living in 1697. Several
of the Clap family of Scituate intermarried with the Bournes and
Gorhams, of Barnstable.
CAM MET.
I do not find this name in the works of Savage, Bond,
Mitchell, or Hinman. Peter Cammet was the first of the name
in Barnstable. He married. May 4, 1741, Thankful Bodfish, ai:d
had Hannah 26, 1742, and David Sept. 25, 1744. Hannah
married, in 1765, John Bates, and those of the name in Barn-
stable are, I think, descendants of David.
COTELLE.
Peter Cotelle was a Frenchman. He resided in the easterly
part of the West Parish, ,in a small gambrel-roofed house,
embowered in trees and shrubbery — an exquisite little place which
he took pleasure in adorning. He was a tinker, shrewd in making
a trade, and it is said that he would take advantage of his pre-
sumed imperfect knowledge of English, to drive a hard bargain.
He also kept a small grocery store. He has descendants.
GANNON.
This is not a common name in Barnstable, or in any part of
New England. John Cannon came over in the Fortune in 1621.
He was not of Plymouth in 1627. Whither he i-emoved or went
hence is unknown. There was a Robert Cannon of New London,
in 1678, and one of the same name in Essex County in 1680,
wliose wife's name was Sarah. Mr. Savage states that there was
one of the name in Sandwich as early as 1650. Capt. John
Cannon was of Norwalk, Conn., 1750.
The earliest record of the name in Barnstable is April 12,
1691, where Joanna Cannon joined the church. On the following
Sabbath her children, John, Philip, Timothy, Nathan, and Eliza-
beth, were baptized. Of these, Timothy is again named on the
records. He married, Nov. 9, 1711, Elizabeth, widow of Isaac
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 251
Hamblen. The names of his children are not on the Barnstable
records. Ebenezer was probably his son, and Joanna, who married,
July 7, 1735, Benjamin Bursley, was probably a daughter.
P^benezer Cannon married, in 1735, Mercy Blossom; July
30, 1753, Patience Goodspeed. His children born in Barnstable
were :
I. Ebenezer, March 19, 1736-7, married, in 1761, Experience
Tupper of Dartmouth.*
II. Ruth, Jan. 18, 1738-9.
III. Nathan, April 10, 1741, married, March 23, 1763, Thankful
Bassett.
IV. Joanna, Sept. 4, 1743, married, Nov. 28, 1760, Bezalee
Waste, of Dartmouth.
V. Joseph, Dec. 14, 1745.
VI. Timothy, baptized June 17, 1750.
VII. Mercy, baptized June 30, 1754.
VIII Ebenezer, baptized Jan. 30, 1756.*
IX. Ira, baptized Oct. 12, 1740.
X. Ziba, baptized Aug. 1762.
* The Ebenezer who was published to Deliverance Tupper in 1761, is called Jr. ; the
Ebenezer baptized June 30, 1756, is called son of Ebenezer and Patience. It is probable
that there was jet another Ebenezer.
CUDWORTH.
GEN. JAMES CUDWOETH.
Little is known of the early history of this most excellent
man. It is probable that he came to Boston in 1632, with his
friend, Mr. Hatherly, in the ship Charles, from London. In
September 1634, he was a householder in Scituate, and a freeman
of the colony of New Plymouth. His house was one of the nine
first built in that town, and is described as a "small, plaine,
palizadoe house." This he sold to Goodman Ensign, and in 1636
built on his lot near the bridge at the harbor.
Mr. Cudworth and his wife joined Mr. Lothrop's church Jan.
18, 1634-5, and till the meeting-house was completed, in November
1636, the congregation frequently met on the Sabbath, and on
other special occasions, to worship in his "small, plaine, palizadoe
house."
In 1636 he was a member of the Committee appointed by the
Court, to revise the Colonial laws ; in 1637 he was constable of
Scituate; and .Jan. 22, 1638-9, one of the grantees of the lands
in Sippican, where Mr. Lothrop and a portion of his church then
proposed to remove. In 1640* he removed to Barnstable, and
was elected that year a deputy to the Colony Court. In the list
of Deputies at the June term his name is underscored, and that
of jMr. Thomas Dimmock written against it. In a subsequent
entry in the same record it is stated that Mr. Cudworth was then
an inhabitant of Scituate, and if so, was not eligible as a member
from Barnstable, and therefore Mr. Dimmock was elected in his
place. It is probable that Mr. Cudworth came to Barubtable
in the Spring of 1640 ; but did not become a permanent resident
*Mr. Freeman says he came to Barnstable in 1639 ; Mr. Deane says in 1642. The latter
is certainly wrong, and after a careful examination of the records, I find no positive evi-
dence that Mr. Freeman is in the right. He certainly did not come in May, 1639, with
Messrs. Hull and Dimmock, and I find no evidence tliat he came in the following October
with Mr. Lothrop. Some difference ^ about this time, had arisen between him and his
friend Hatherly, and in the entry on the court orders, June 2, 1640, it is distinctly stated
that he was then of Scituate, therefore could not have been of Barnstable at that date,
though he was considered one of the proprietors.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 253
till the autumn of that year.
Mr. Cudworth's name appears only once on the records of
the town of Barnstable now preserved. It occurs on the list of
townsmen and proprietors dated Jan. 1643-4, and its position
thereon, indicates that he resided in the vicinity of Coggin's
Pond. In the church records he is named as of Barnstable
April 18, 1641, March 28, 1642, and June 24, 1644. He
conveyed, by deed, his second house and lot in Scituate, to
Thomas Ensign, June 8, 1642. In that deed he is styled "gentle-
man of Barnstable," Jan. 4, 1641-2, he is called an inhabitant of
I Barnstable, though at that date he was absent from town. In
1642, Mr. Cudworth was again elected a deputy to the June court
from Barnstable, and his name was again underscored, and Mr.
Thomas Dimmocli's written against it. The fact that Barnstable
was entitled to only two deputies at thfe June terms in 1640 and
in 1642, and that Anthony Annable and Mr. Dimmock served at
those terms, seems to make it certain that Mr. Cudworth was
sick, or absent from the town at the terms named. In Aug. 1643,
a return was made of all in the colony "able to bear arms." JMr.
Cudworth's name appears on the return from Barnstable, and on
that from Scituate. On the former it is crossed out, and retained
on the latter. ^
These few isolated facts are all that the records furnish
relative to Mr Cudworth's residence in Barnstable. The records
of the laying out of the lands at the time of the settlement, being
lost, nothing is known respecting his lands in Barnstable. By a
municipal regulation, an inhabitant removing from town, was
obliged to offer his lands to the other inhabitants, before he could
legally sell to a stranger. In such cases a memorandum of the
transfer was made on the proprietor's records now lost.t
Mr. Hathway, in his deed to the Conihasset Partners, Dec.
1, 1646, styles him a"salter," that is, one who makes or sells salt,
and this fact, perhaps, explains the uncertainty of his place of
residence from 1639 to 1646. He had a salt work at Scituate,
which it does not appear that he sold on his removal to Barn-
stable. This required his attention at certain seasons of the j'ear,
and explains why he was so often absent from Barnstable. A
salt work was erected in Barnstable very early, on the point of
land on the west of the entrance of Rendevous Creek, still known
t Thomas Bird, Byrd, or Bourd, was at this time a resident in Barnstable, and a ser-
vant of Mr. Cudworth. His father, also named Thomas, was one of the earliest settlers in
Scituate, and a freeman in 1633. There was a man of the same name at Hartford, and
another iit Dorchester, one of whom was perhaps the same who was at Barnstable. As
Thomas Bird resided only a short time in Barnstable, I have not taken the trouble to
investigate his history. In a notice of the criminal calendar of Barnstable, nnder the title
of Casely, I 'perhaps ought to have mentioned the crime of Bird. In Jan. 1641-2, for
running away irom his master and breaking into one or more houses in Barnstable, and
stealing therefrom "apparel and victuals," he was sentenced to be whipt, once in Barn-
stable and once in Plymouth. His father settled with iv^r Cudworth for the tijne Thomas
had to serve, and the young man was released from the messenger's hands, though not
absolved from the punishment of his crimes. He afterwards resided in Scituate.
254 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
as Saltern point. This word, Saltern, has now become nearly
obsolete. It means a salt work, a building in which salt is made
by boiling or solar evaporation. On some ancient records that
point is called "salt-pond" point. Who owned or who established
this ancient saltern I have been unable to ascertain. It was
situated on the Lothrop land, on a parcel that from the situation,
I should judge was owned by the Rev. John, and afterwards by
his widow Ann. Neither in the wills nor in the settlement of the
estates of the Lothrops is any reference had to the salt-work, and
I am of the opinion, if the facts in relation to the matter are ever
ascertained, they will prove that G-en. James Cudworth was the
first who manufactured salt in Barnstable. |
Before 1646 he returned to Scituate, and became, Dec. 1,
1646, one of the Conihasset Partners. At that time he resided
on the South East of Coleman's hills, in a house which he sold to
Thomas Kobinson before 1650. After this, he resided, during
life, on his farm near the little Musquashcut pond in Scituate.
In 1652 he was appointed captain of the militia company in
Scituate ; in 1649-'50-'51-'52-'53-'54-'55 and '56, a representative to
the Court ; June 3, 1656, he was chosen an assistant of the
Governor, and re-elected in 1657 and 1658. In 1653 he was
chosen one of the council of war; March 2, 1657-8 he was dis-
charged, with his own consent, from his office as Captain of the
militia company, and in 1659, for the same reason, he was not
approved of by the Court as a deputy from Scituate, to which
office he had been elected by the people. June 6, 1660, he was
required to give bonds, with sufficient surities, for £500 for his
appearance at the next October Court, and so from one General
Court to another, till the next June, "in reference unto a seditious
letter sent for England, the coppy whereof is come over in print."
This letter was dated at Scituate in 1658, and was addressed by
him to Mr. John Brown, then in England. It has been justly
admired for its liberal and Catholic sentiments, clearly and boldly
expressed.
} In 1624 a man was sent over to establish salt works in Plymouth. Gov. Bradford says
he was ignorant of the business, yain and self-willed. The facts indicate that the GoTcrnor
was severe in his judgement. It was evident that, in the variable climate of New Englaud,
that salt could not be manufactured by solar evaporation, in the mode common in the south
of Spain, and in the West India Islands. On the other hand, the smaU proportion of salt
contained in sea water would render the English process, by boiling in pans, be too tedious
and too expensive. His plan seems to have been to reduce the sea water by
solar evaporation in ponds and finis4i the process by boiling in pan's. In
selecting the sites for his ponds he was unfortunate, whether, as Governor Brad-
ford says, from a lack of good judgment, or for other reasons, does not appear. The
ponds did not prove to be tight, and to correct the fault of the bottom and make it more
retentive, he covered it with a coating of clay. Similar ponds are constructed by the salt
makers at the present day, and errors in the selection of sites are not always to be avoided
by men of good judgement. Before this man (his name is not given) had a fair opportunity
to test the value of his works, his buildings and most of his pans there, were unfortunately
. destroyed by flre. The little information preserved respecting the salt work in Barnstable,
shows that the method was similar to that adopted by the Plymouth manufacturer. A pond
was dug on the high meadow, and a dyke thrown up around it to retain the water, and
prevent the ingress of more than was wanted. When the water was reduced to a weak
brine by solar evaporation, it was conveyed to pans and the process completed by boiling
There was a similar establishment at Pine Hill, Sandwich.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 255
For the expressions in another letter, addressed by him to the
Governor and assistants, he was sentenced at the same court to be
disfranchised.
At the Court held Oct. 2, 1660, the printed letter of Mr.
Cudworth was read, and Mr. John Brown, who was present, testi-
fied that he did receive a letter subscribed by James Cudworth,
of Scituate, and that, according to his best recollection, it was
substantially the same as the one then read. The bonds for £500,
of Mr. Cudworth, were cancelled, and the Court ordered that a
civil action should be commenced against him at the next follow-
ing March term of the Court. When the day came, no action was
brought. The absurdity of men sitting as judges, in a case where
they themselves were the plaintiffs, was too glaring, and they
wisely determined to drop the action.
The firmness displayed by Gen. Cudworth, in these trying
times, will ever be a monument to his memory, more endearing
than brass or granite. Rather, than violate his convictions of
right and of duty, he submitted to disfranchisement, ejection from
office, and to be placed under a bond for a larger sum than the
whole colony could have'paid in coin. He did not come over in
the Mayflower ; but he had adopted as his own, the principles of
those who did, and no earthly power could make him swerve from
them. Some speak lightly of those principles ; but it is igno-
rance of their character which makes them do so.
The Pilgrims came over with their bibles in their hands, and
in their hearts ; that holy book was the only creed, to which mem-
bers of their church were required to give their assent. They
held that Christ was the only bishop to whom they owned allegi-
ance, and that the gorgeous vestments of the priests of the
Catholic and English churches, and the ceremonial observances
required, were anti-Christian, and not in conformity with the
usages of the Apostolic age. They came here that they might
have liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own
consciences, to establish a pure and simple form of worship for
themselves and their posterity. They held that the conscience
was free, that man was not responsible to his fellow man for his
faith, but to God alone.
These principles lie at the bottom of all that is tolerant in
religion, liberal in politics, or worth contending for. The Pil-
grims took another step in advance of the prevalent opinions of
their time. When about to embark from Leyden, their reverend
pastor, in his farewell address, says : "I charge you before God
and his blessed angels, that you follow me no further than you
have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more
truth yet to break forth out of his holy word. I cannot suffi-
ciently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are
come to a period in religion, and will go at present no further than
the instruments of their reformation, Luther and Calvin were
256 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILrES.
great and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not
into the whole counsel of God. I beseech you, remember it, 'tis
an article of your church covenant, that you be ready to receive
whatever truth shall be made known to vou from the written word
of God."
This was not spoken for rhetorical effect, it was a sober truth,
a solemn injunction, not to forget, or transgress a prime article in
their church covenant. The covenant of the Puritan Church
established in London in 1616, of which Mr. Lothrop was after-
wards pastor, was the same in form. The members of that
church, with joined hands, "solemnly covenanted with each other,
in the presence of Almighty God, to walk together in all Gods
ways and ordinances, according as he had always revealed, or
should further make known to them." This covenant Mr. Lothrop
brought over with him, and on the 8th day of Jan. 1634, O. S.
(Jan. 18, 1635, N. S.) at Scituate, after spending the day in
fastmg, humiliation and prayer, at evening, there was re-union of
those who had been in covenant before. Mr. Cudworth united
with the church ten days after, and from the expression used in
the record, I infer that he had not been a member of Mr. Loth-
rop's church in London.
Till 1657, the Plymouth Colony had maintained the principles
of its founders ; but during the preceding twenty-six years, causes
had been in operation which had gradually disturbed the harmony
of sentiment which had at lirst prevailed. Rhode Island, influ-
enced by the liberal and intelligent counsels of Roger Williams,
had become the impregnable citadel of toleration in New England.
Massachusetts and Connecticut were founded by men who brought
over with them the same spirit of intolerance, which then pre-
vailed in the mother country. They enacted severe laws against
the Anna baptists, and more severe against the quakers.
Through the commissioners of the United Colonies, they urged
the magistrates of Plymouth to pass similar laws.
The "first comers" had, among their number, a large propor-
tion of educated men. There were very few who had not received
the elements of a good education. They were men of large
experience, intelligent, tolerant in religion, and liberal in their
politics. These men were the advocates of a learned ministry,
and desirous of establishing schools and seminaries of learning.
In 1657, many of these men bad passed away. Brewster and
Lothrop, the calm yet firm advocates of toleration and liberty,
were dead. A new race had succeeded — men who had enjoyed
few educational advantages, and who, in their ignorance of better
things, had imbibed intolerant, and illiberal principles.
During this period many new men had been introduced into
the colony, some from Massachusetts, but mostly from the eastern
country. Among these were many who had no sympathy for the
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 257
institutions established by the Puritans. There was also another
class — disappointed politicians — like George Barlow of Sandwich,
of which I have had occasion to speak in no complimentary
terms.
The effect on the churches was disastrous. The Barnstable
Church was rent in twain, and the difficulties did not end till the
settlement of Mr. Walley in 1662. There were divisions in the
old Plymouth Church, in fact in almost every church in the
colony.
A large majority of those known as first comers, then sur-
viving, sympathized with Mr. Cudworth. Seituate was very
nearly unanimous in his support, so were a large majoi-ity in Sand-
wich and in Barnstable. Of the state of feeling in other towns
at that period, I have no means of correctly ascertaining.
Such was the state of public feeling in the colony in the sum-
mer of 1657 ; yet such was the reverence of the people for the
institutions first established, that the magistrates and representa-
tives hesitated in passing the laws recommended by the commis-
sioners. They simply ordained, says Mr. Cudworth, that the
word "and" in an old law, should be changed to "or." This
apparently small and unimportant alteration changed, as will be
seen, a salutary or harmless law, into an instrument of tyranny.
This change would have been inoperative if there had not
been men in the colony in whom the spirit of persecution only
slumberedj who were ready to catch at every straw and urge the
people on to acts of madness. Of this class was George Barlow
of Sandwich, and as he was the type of the class, some account
of him will not be out of place, in order to show what kind of
men Cudworth, Hatherly and Robinson, had to contend with.
The four years from 1657 to 1661, have been called the dark
ages of the colony. It is unpleasant to recount the events of
those years — to be forced to admit that such excellent men as
Thomas Hinckley, Josiah Winslow, Thomas Prence, John Alden,
and others, adjured, for the time being, the liberal principles of
civil polity which the fathers professed, and were led astray by a
senseless clamour from without, and by factious and ambitious
men within. That they unwillingly consented to enact laws
restraining political and religious freedom is evident, from the
statements in the letter of Mr. Cudworth to Mr. Brown ; and that
they lived to regret their hasty and inconsiderate action, is verified
by their subsequent acts ; but that unwillingness, and that regret
does not blot from the memory, or from the statute book, the
unjust laws which they sanctioned and enforced. The precedents
established in Massachusetts and Connecticut are no excuse, they
and their associates were the rulers of a free and independent
258 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
colony and were amenable at the bar of public opinion for their
acts.*
The Puritans have suffered more from over zealous friends,
than from open and avowed enemies. A community is an aggre-
gation of individuals — one rule of act applies to both, and he
that attempts to conceal or paliate wrong, does an injury to him
whom he thus essays to defend. The Plymouth Colony existed
seventy-one years. During sixty-seven, with the exception of a
short period during the usurpation of Andros, the people enjoyed
a mild, a liberal, and a paternal government. Shall we cease to
honor the institutions they established because, during four
years, a bigoted majority were false to the principles of the
fathers ?
George Barlow was the type of a class who, in 1657, inaug-
urated a system of terrorism in the Old Colony, and it may be
truthfully said that he made more converts to the doctrines of the
Quakers than all their preachers. The spirit of persecution which
he was largely instrumental in introducing, raised up opponents
who at first sympathized with the sufferers then with their doc-
trines which they at last embraced. In the towns where the
Quaker preachers were not opposed and persecuted, they made
no proselytes, but where they were persecuted, there they made
many converts.
In a former article I have spoken of George Barlow, not In
terms of commendation. The Puritans and Quakers, though
opposed to each other, agreed in this, that George Barlow was a
bad man. No one speaks well of him. Of his early history I
know nothing. He was of Boston or vicinity in 1637, perhaps
earlier. In the records of the Quarter Court held at Boston and
Newtown 19th Sept. 1637, is the following entry: "George
Barlow, for idleness, is censured to be whipped." From Boston
he went to the eastern country, and was at Exeter in 1639, and
at Saco in 1652. . At these places and elsewhere, says Mr.
Savage, he exercised his gifts as a pi-eacher. On the 5th of July,
1653, at a court held at Wells, by Richard Bellingham and others,
commissioners of the Massachusetts Colony, George Badow and
fifteen others, inhabitants of Saco, acknowledged themselves to be
subject to the government of that Colony, and took the freemans'
* He that supposes that Gov. Hinckley, and those who acted with him, had neither law
nor reason on their side, is mistaken. They had both. The lands in the several towns
were granted on the express condition that an Orthodox church should he gathered, of at
least forty families, and that a learned minister should be supported out of the products ol
those lands. These were legal conditions, and the grantees were bound by them. Gov.
Hinckley was the best read lawyer in the Colony, and he examined the question only in its
legal aspect. On that ground he was right. Whether his course was judicious is another
and entirely different question. The Puritans were equally severe against men who
attempted to disregard the conditions on which the lauds were gi-anted. Rev. Joseph Hull,
whose learning and Orthodoxy, for making such an attempt, was excommunicated and
forbidden to preach. Mr. Cudworth considered the rights of conscience as paramount to
the legal obligation. Gov. Hinckley thought otherwise, and that was the point at issue
between them.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 250
oath in open court. In the record of the proceedings of the
same court the following passage occurs :
"vSeveral of the inhabitants complained, that George Barlow
is a disturbance to the place, the commissioners thought meet to
forbid the said George Barlow any more publickly to preach or
prophesy, under the penalty of ten pounds for every offence."
Soon after the last date he removed to Newbury. Of his
character while an inhabitant of that town, Mr. Thomas Clark
affirmed in open court, at Plymouth, on the 13th of June 1660,
"that he is such an one that he is a shame and reproach to all his
masters ; and that he, the said Barlow, stands convicted and
recorded of a lye att Newbury."
In 1657 he was of Sandwich, and June 1, 1658, he was
appointed by the Plymouth Colony Court, marshal of Sandwich,
Barnstable and Yarmouth, with "full power to act as constable in
all things in the town of Sandwich." Oct. 2, he- was commis-
sioned to apprehend Quakers coming to Manomett, or places
adjacent, in boats. June 7, 1659, he was allowed to be a tows-
man of Sandwich, and June 5, 1661, his authority, as marshal,
was extended to all places in the Colony.
March 5, 1660-1. The court ordered George Bai-low "to
pay a fine of twenty shillings to Benjamin Allen, for causing him
to sit in the stocks at Sandwich the greater part of a night,
without cause, and for other wrongs done by him unto the said
Allen." Barlow was also ordered to return unto Ralph Allen a
shirt and some other small linen, which he took from him, in the
pursuit of Wenlock."
March 4, 1661-2. "George Barlow and his wife were both
severely reproved for their most ungodly living in contention, one
with the other, and admimished to live otherwise." (See Colony
Records, Vol. 4, pages 7 and 10.) In May, 1665, he was put
under bonds for his good behavior, and in the following March he
was fined 10 shillings for being drunk a second time.
The foregoing extracts are from the records of the friends of
Barlow, and it is safe to infer that they did not admit that which
was not true. This evidence establishes the following points :
That he was an idle fellow, a disturber of the public peace ; that
he was a shame and reproach to all his masters ; that he was not
truthful ; that he was tyrannical, that he was quarrelsome, and
that he was a drunkard. In addition to the testimony of Gov.
Thomas Prence may be added, it is reported that he made this
remark respecting Barlow, ' 'That an honest man would not have,
or hardly would take his place." (Bishop, page 388.)
The following testimony is extracted from the writings of the
Quakers. I quote from Bishop's New England Judged, (London
Edition) because he is more accurate in his statement of facts
than many of the early writers among the friends. In the fea-
260 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
tures of these men the poet Whittier says you could read :
"My life is hunted — evil men
Are following in my track ;
The traces of the torturer's whip
Are on my aged back."
Naturally, however meek a man maybe, it is hardly to be
expected that a man having the traces of the whip on his own
person, can describe so calmly as one who had not suffered.
Bishop, Vol. 1, page 389, says :" "As for this Barlow, his natural
inclination is to be lazy, filthy and base to all. In his former
years, he was one of the Protectors Preachers at Exeter, in New
England and elsewhere ; of which being weary, or having worn
that trade out, or it having worn out him, he turned lawyer and
so came into Plymouth Patent, where he became a notorious
spoiler of the goods of the innocent by being a marshal."
•June 23, 1658, Marshal Barlow arrested Christopher Holder
and John Copeland,* two Quaker preachers, while on their way' to
a meeting in Sandwich. They had been banished from the
Colony on the 2d of the preceding February, and had been whipt
at Plymouth on the 8th of that month for not complying with the
order of the Courts. Barlow carried them before the selectmen
of Sandwich, who had been appointed by the Court, in the
absence of a magistrate, to witness the execution of the law.
They "entertaining no desire to sanction measures so severe
towards those who differed from them in religion, declined to act
in the case." Barlow, disappointed at the refusal, took the
prisoners to his house, where he kept them six days, and then on
29th of June, carried them before Mr. Thomas Hincliley of
Barnstable, who had that month been elected one of the magis-
trates and an assistant of Gov. Prence. Bishop, page 184, thus
describes the scene at the execution : "They, (Christopher Holden
' and John Copeland) being tied to an old post, had thirty-three
cruel stripes laid upon them with a new tormenting whip, with
three cords, and knots at the ends, made by the Marshal, and
brought witli him. At the sight of which cruel and bloody execu-
tion, one of the spectators (for there were many who witnessed
against it) cried out in the grief and anguish of her spirit, saying :
"How long, Lord, shall it be ere thou avenge the blood of thine
elect?" And afterwards bewailing herself, and lamenting her
loss, said : "Did I forsake father and mother, and all my dear
* Before 1654 ^Christopher Holder resided at Winterhounie, in Gloucestershire, Eng-
land. He is represented to be a well educated man and of good estate. He came to New
England in 1656 and again in 1657, and spent the winter of that year in the West Indies. He
returned to England in 1660 and there married Mary, daughter of Richard and Katherine
Scott, of Providence, K. I. He repeatedly visited America and other countries, and suf-
fered much in his native country and in foreign Lands. He died July 13, 1688, aged about
60. John Copeland was fi-om Yorkshire and had also been well educated. He came to
America in 1657. In 1661 he was in London, and in 1687 he was in Virginia. He married
thrice, and died at North Cave, County of York, March 9, 1718, veiy aged. Among the
first settlers it is probable they found many whom they had known in England
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 261
relations, to come to New England for this? Did I ever think
New England would come to this? Who could have thought it?"
And this Thomas Hinckley saw done, to whom the Marshal
repaired for that purpose. f
"The Friends of Sandwich, aware of the hatred which the
Barnstable magistrate had to Quakerism, with a view to cheer their
brethren in bonds, accompanied them thither. These were new
proceedings at Barnstable, and caused no little sensation among
the quiet settlers of tlie district. They felt that however
erroneous Quakerism might be, such conduct on the part of their
rulers did not consist with the religion of Jesus." (Bowden.)
Bishop (pages 188 and 189) says that when Barlow went, in
1659, to arrest Edward Perry, "he was so drunk that he could
hardly forbear vomiting in the bosom of him whom he pretended
to press" as his aid. A friend of Perry who was present said to
him, "Yea, George, thou mayst wash thy hands, but thou canst
not wash thy heart." He answered, still laughing and jeering,
and said, "Yes, one dram of the bottle will do it," and clapped
his hand on his bosom. Unto which kind of washing, it seems,
he is used to much, viz : To be drunk, and then to be ftiad, and to
beat his wife and children like a mad man ; and to throw the
things of the house from one place to another."
Many passages from the early writers to the same effect
might be quoted. That he was honest there is much reason to
doubt. Thomas P^wer charged him in open court with having on
a garment made from cloth stolen from him. Barlow also
encouraged and justified his children in stripping the fruits from
the orchard of his neighbor Thomas Johnson. An Indian took a
knife from an Englishman's house, and being told he should not
steal, he answered, "I thought so, but Barlow steals from the
Quakers, and why may not I do the same ?"
■ It has already been stated that a majority of the Plymouth
Colony Court had pronounced the letter of Mr. Cudworth to Mr.
Brown to be seditious. The foregoing extracts clearly establish
one point, and that is, his denunciations of Barlow are not
seditious, without it can be proved that telling the truth is sedition.
The other statements in his letter will also be verified by extracts
from the records and contemporaneous authorities.
George Barlow does not appear to have had a family when he
t Mr. John Wliitney in Truth and Innocency defended. London edition, 1702, pa^e 26,
describes the scene at Barn'itable sub'^tflntially as above; but his lan^uaee is wanting in
cleamiess. Bowden does not refer to Wliitney ; "but lie was probably misled by the ambigu-
ous language of that author. He represents that the residence of the magistrate was
"about two miles distant." It should be twelve miles. This is probably a mistake of the
printer. He adds, (page 116, London edition.) "This functionary, after a frivolous exam-
ination of tjie prisoners, ordered them to be tied to the post of an out-house ; and then,
tuniing executioner, he gave each of them thiritj'-three lashes." I should not notice this
gross scandal if it had not been copied by other historians without comment. (See annals
of Sandwich, pages 60 and 61.) No trustworthy authority can be quoted in its support — its
falsity is apparent. Bowden is usually very cautious in his statements. He refers to
Norton's Ensign as his authority; but he evidently relied on and was misled by the ambigu-
ous lan^age of Whifciojf.
t62 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIKS.
came to Sandwich. He married Jane, widow of the lamented
Anthony Besse. She had then a sou Nehemiah, ancestor of the
Besses of Sandwich, Wareham, and other towns, and three
daughters. By her second husband she had a son John, ancestor
of some of the Barlows in Sandwich, &c.
Details of his brutality as the master of a family, have
already been given. Froni Mr. Besse's once "sweet home,"
peace, comfort, and happiness, were banished. Morning and
evening prayer and praise had ascended from the family altar,
now desecrated by impiety and drunken revelries. The little ones
who had been brought up to be liiud and affectionate, one towards
the other, were now rude and disobedient, and taught that it was
no sin to steal from those who were not members of their
church.
Barlow made high pretension to piety, and became a member
of the Sandwich church. He also claimed to have studied the
law, and essayed to be a lawyer. By his pretended piety, and«by
his plausible address, he at first deceived the unsuspecting Puri-
tans, and *hey appointed him to a responsible office. This they
did ignorantly, and no blame can attach to the court ; but he was
continued in office, and his authority enlarged, after his true
character was known. For this, it is difficult to frame a sufficient
excuse.
The worst of men usually have some redeeming traits of
Character. Contemporaneous authorities say nothing in his favor.
He was hated by every member of his family, wife, sons, daugh-
ter, and daughters-in-law ; despised and avoided by his neighbors
— a blot on the annals of the Old Colony which time will never
wipe out.
Barlow, in the latter part of his life, was never sober of his
own free choice — as an officer he was unfeeling and tyrannical,
and seemed to take pleasure in wringing the last penny from the
hard hand of industry — in dragging men and women to the prison
and the whipping post. His career was short. An outraged
people hurled him from otHee, and in his old age he craved charity
from those for whom he had shown no piety in the day of his
power.
The early writers furnish many details of his cruel acts. 1
shall relate one, and prefer giving it as it has been preserved by
tradition. J
t Among the fli-st settlers in Sandwich was George Allen, a man of good standing
a.mong the Puritans, notivithstanding he was an Ana baptist. The lioase which he built at
Spring Hill in 1646, is now owned by Mrs. Eliza C. Wing, is in good repair, and will proba-
bly last another century. He died in 16i3, leaving nine children mentioned in his will, four
of whom are named, Matthew, Henry, Samuel and William, the other five least children
not named. Brown says that six brothers and sisters of this family were among the earUest
who embraced the principles of the Fi-iends. He says that Halph Allen was his son, and
George, Jr., was probably another. The two last named must have been men grown when
they came to this country, for George had taken the oath of fidelity in England. The
Aliens settled at Spring Hill, and two or more of their houses yet remain, and are probably
as old as any in Massachusetts. The one in which the early quakers met for many succes-
sive years, is still standing, and remained in the family till 1862, when it was sold to Frank
Korns, the present owner.
GICNEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 263
The traveller from Sandwich to Barnstable has, perhaps,
noticed the ancient and substantial dwelling houses near Spring
Hill. Some of these have stood two centuries, and were the
residences of the early Quakers. In 1659 William Allen was the
occupant of one of them. He was a young man, married, March
21, 1649-50, Priscilla Brown. His flues amounted to £86,17, and
were imposed for the following offences : £40 for twenty meetings
at his house ; £4 for attending meetings at other places ; £5 for
entertaining Quakers ; £25 for refusing to take the oath of
fidelity ; £1 for not removing his hat in court, and the balance for
expenses, &c.
In payment for these fines there was taken from him at
different times :
18 head of cattle, apprised at £64,10
1 mare and a horse of which he was half owner ; but
according to the Treasurer's accounts mare and 2 colts, 19,10
8 bushels of corn and a hogshead, 1,07
Corn at another time, 1,10
£86,17
In addition, a brass kettle was taken in payment of a fine of
£1, imposed in 1660 for wearing his hat in court. These dis-
traints were made by Barlow at different times, and some parti-
culars may be found in Bishop. In the winter of 1660-61 William
Allen was in Sandwich. In June, 1661, he and 27 others were
released from prison in Boston, tlie authorities having received
intelligence that King Charles would, order all Quakers imprisoned
to be sent over to England for trial. The mandamus or letter of
the King was received in November, 1661, and in the Plymouth
Colony persecutions and the exacting of fines ceased ; but in
Massachusetts the magistrates found means to evade the royal
authority, and persecutions did not entirely cease for several
years. '
Sandwich suffered more than all the other towns in the Ply-
mouth Colony — in fact, only a few and unimportant cases occurred
out of that town. Many of those who were imprisoned in Bos-
ton were Sandwich men who went there on business. Though two
centuries have passed, it is not surprising that many particulars
respecting the persecutions in Sandwich have been preserved.
Accounts of the sufferings endured by the Quakers in Boston,
Sandwich, and other places, immediately after the events occured,
were published in London, and were read by all classes. Such
events are not soon forgotten, and it takes many generations to
eradicate the memory thereof from the minds of the descendants
of the sufferers. In Sandwich the principle facts have been
preserved by tradition, even the localities where the events
occurred are pointed out. The preservation of so many of the
houses of the first Quakers, the ownership whereof for successive
264 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTAI5LE FAMILIES.
generations, can be ascertained bv deeds, wills, and other legal
instruments, has aided in keeping in memory locations which
would otherwise have been forgotten. The following incidents,
said to have occurred when Barlow made his last distraint on the
goods of William Allen, are yet related, and the exact location
where they occurred pointed out. This story of wrong is in some
particulars differently related by different persons ; but the leading
facts are confirmed by the records.
On the south side of Spring Hill, in Sandwich, in one of
those cosey nooks, which the first comers selected for their house
lots, sheltered by hills from the bleak north and west winds, the
traveller on the Cape Cod Railroad has perhaps noticed an ancient
dwelling which the renovating hand of modern improvement has
allowed to remain as it was one hundred and fifty years ago. In
1658 it was owned by William Allen.* He and his wife Priscilla
* William Allen's House. Mr.NeiVPlI Hoxie who has made the sturly of the antiquities
of Spring Hill a speciiiliry, is of the opinion that William Alien, in 1658, resided in a house
nearer the grave yard than the Alden Allen house. The history of the latter can be traced
hy records from the year 1672. It was then the residence of William Allen, and continued
to be till his death in 1705, when he bequeathed it to Daniel, son of his brother George,
reserving the use of the south end for the meetinfrs of the Quakers in the winter as had
been customary. Daniel bequeathed it to his son Comelins, Cornelius to his son CJeorgei
George to his son William, and William to his son Aklen who died Jan. 8, 1858, aged 80.
To determine the question of the age of this house I have spent some time. Outwardly
the style indicates about the year 1680 as the date of its erection; but on comparing the
description of the appearance of the framing and interior arrangements furnished me by
Mr. Hoxie, with the description thereof given in 1705, by the apprisers of the estate of
William Allen, I am satisfied that it has been enlarged three, if not four times since
originally built. The original house was 18 feet by 23, two stories high In the life time of
William Allen a leanto was added on the west for a kitchen, and an addition made on the
south one story high, with a leanto roof, in the style popularly known as a "salt box."
Under the salt box there was a cellar. This corresponds with the description of the build-
ing in 1705 on the Probate Kecords. Soon after this date the "salt box" was removed or
enlarged, and an addition made coiTespondiug in size and appearance with the ancient part,
making the main building 18 by 40 feet, two stories high, not including the leanto on the
west, and precisely in the form it now remains. The objection to this view is, the framing
of the north and south ends are precisely alike, the posts on the south not having been
spliced, making itprobable that both ends were built at the same time, but if so the descrip-
tion of the apprisers of Allen's estate is incorrect. The position of the cellar and chimney
indicates that both ends were not built at the same time, and the plates are spliced precisely
at the place where the addition was probably made. It may have been John Newland's
house, which William Allen bought about the year 1680, but the location of Ne^V^^fl's house
is said to have been on the south of the swamp, the collar whereof yet remains.
All the old houses at Spring Hill have undergone similar transformations since they
were built. The Wing hou«e, probably the oldest house in Massachusetts, built before 1643
as a fortification, has been altered so otten that little of the original remains. The George
Allen built, according to a mark thereon in 1646, is in good preservation.
The conclusion to which I have arrived is this, that it is not perfectly certain that
William Allen resided in the Alden Allen house in 1660. It is difficult to prove such a
question. He may have lived in a hou«e nearer the "grave yard," as tradition savs.
Portions of the tradition to which I refer are proved erroueou*, namely, that William Allen
married two wives, the records show that his first wife Priscilla sui-vi'ved him; that having
no issue he devised his estate to Gideon Allen, the record'* show that he bequeathed it to
his nephew Daniel. Both houses were near the "grave yard," and nothing is proved by that
expression, and if the tradition is erronous, as above shown, in important particulars, it
creates a doubt at least, whether or not it is accurate in regard to the exact location of
William Allen's house in the year 1660.
William Allen died iu the Alden Allen house Oct. 1, 1705, aged about 80 years, having
lived in the marriage relation fifty-five years with his wife Priscilla, who survived him,
certainly thirty-three years in the house in which he died, probably tlie whole period. His
house, during the latter part oihis life, and when owned by his successors Daniel, Cornelius,
Georae, and William, was the resort of numerous Friends at their quarterly, monthly, and
weekly meeetings. The ot-cupants were hospitable ami provided liberally for all whocame.
It should be regarded by the Friends as their "Mecca" and be preserved as a monument of
the "olden time." The associations connected with that old "south end" would be pleasant.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 265
were among the first in Sandwich who embraced the principles of
the Quakers. His father was an Ana Baptist, a sect that held to
some of the peculiar doctrines of the Qualters. His six sons and
others in Sandwich belonged to the same sect, or sympathized in
the views of the elder Allen, and readily received the doctrines of
the Quakers. The father had, ten years before the time of Bar-
low, "laid down his life in peace." His sons were industrious and
prudent. William had accumlated a good estate for those times,
was hospitable, and his house was the resort of the early Friends.
The distraints which the Marshal had mad« in 1658 and 9, in pay-
ment of the fines which had been imposed on him, had strip't him
of nearly all his goods. His house, his lands, a cow, left "out of
pity," a little corn, and a few articles of household furniture,
were all that remained, and he was living on bread and water, a
prisoner in the common jail in Boston. These things did not
move him, he held fast to bis faith.
Such was the condition of the family, when the Marshal
appeared with a warrant to collect additional fines. The sancti-
monious Barlow was drunk. The distress of the wife did not
move him. He took the cow which had been left "out of pity,"
the little corn remaining, and a bag of meal which a kind neigh-
bor had just brought from the mill. This was insufficient. He
seized a copper kettle, (two iron pots according to one tradition)
the only one remaining, and then mockingly addressing Mrs.
Allen, said: "Now Priscilla, how will thee cook for thy family
and friends, thee has no kettle." Mrs. Allen meekly replied :
"George, that God who hears the young ravens when they cry,
will provide for them. I trust in that God, and I verily believe
the time will come when thy necessity will be greater than mine."
George carried away the goods, but he remembered the "testi-
mony" and lived to see it verified.
Friends, and among them were many who had no sympathy
for the doctrines of the Quakers, immediately provided for all
Mrs. Allen's wants, and soon after the trembling Magistrates of
Massachusetts, fearing that the royal displeasure would be visited
on their own heads, opened their prison doors, and ordered all
.who were in bonds, for conscience sake, to depart.
The letter of King Charles was dated Sept. 9, 1661, and was
addressed to all the Governors, Magistrates, &c., in his colonies
in New England, ordering them "to forbear to proceed any
further" against the Quakers, and to send such as were imprisoned
to England for ti'ial. The bearer of this dispatch was Samuel
Shattuck, a Quaker who had been banished from Massachusetts
on pain of death. He delivered the King's letter to Gov. Endicot.
It must have been exceedingly mortifying to the Magistrates, to
The men, whose names now belong to history, met there, they took sweet counsel together,
and there would some of their descendants delight to assemble and recall the memories of
the past.
266 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
have been obliged to give audience to, and receive the King's
letter from the hands of one whom they had banished.
The news of the King's letter fell like a thunderbolt on Bar-
low. He had grown rich "on the spoils of the innocent," but in
after times he was very poor, and often wished for the return of
"the good times," as he called the four years from 1657 to 1661.
In Iiis old age he often craved Priscilla's charity; She always
administered to his wants, and though he never went from her
door empty handed, yet he was never grateful ; and was always
sighing for the return of the "good old times."
Barlow died as he lived, a poor miserable drunkard. No
loving hand smoothed his brow in death, and no. stone tells where
he lies.
It is not surprising that the persecutions of the Quakers at
Sandwich should have aroused the indignation of such men as
Cudworth, Hatherly, and Robinson — it is surprising that the acts of
Barlow should have found an apologist in the Old Colony. William
Allen was not the greatest sufferer. Edward Perry, who resided at
East Sandwich, was wealthy, a man who had been well educated,
he suffered more. Robert Harper had his house and lands and all
that he had taken, and suffered many cruel imprisonments and
punishments. Thomas Johnson, the poor weaver, to whom Mr.
Cudworth refers, was strip't of all he had. Not only were their
goods taken from them, and cruel punishments inflicted ; but they
were disfranchised, even those who were of the first settlers and
had lived in Sandwich, twenty years. Oct. 2, 1658, nine were
disfranchised by the Colony Court, for being, or sympathizing
with the Quakers, and it was farther ordered, that no man should
thereafter be admitted an inhabitant of Sandwich, or enjoy the
privileges thereof without the approbation of the church, Gov.
Prence, or one of the assistants.
During the Protectorates in England a similar feeling existed
there, and the injudicious legislation of New England was only
the echo of the Puritan opinion in the mother country. Mr.
Palfrey in his excellent history of New England, remarks on this
subject: "The Puritan's mistake at a later period was: that he
undertook by public regulation what public regulation can never
achieve, and by aiming to form a nation of saints, introduced
hypocrites among them to defeat their objects and bring scandal on
their cause, while the saints were made no more numerous and no
better."
The following letter of Mr. Cudworth to Mr. John Brown
was written in December 1658, and printed the next year in Eng-
land, and probably had an influence in determining King Charles
to issue his letter or mandamus. Mr. Deane, in his histf^ry of
Scituate, publishes the letter substantially, omitting many passages
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 267
and modernizing the language in some instances. I prefer to
give the letter as written by Mr. Cudworth :
LETTER OF JAMES CUDWORTH.
SciTUATB, 10th mo. 1658.
As for the State and condition of Things amongst us, it is
Sad, and like so to continue ; the Antichristian Persecuting Spirit
is very active, and that in the Powers of this World : He that will
not whip and Lash, Persecute and Punish Men that Differ in
Mattefs of Religion, must not sit on the Bench, nor sustain any
Office in the Common-wealth. Last election, Mr. Hatherly, and
my Self, left off the Bench, and mj self Discharged of my
Captainship, because I had Entertained some of the Quakers at
my House (thereby that I might be the better acquainted with their
Principles) I thought it better fo to do, than with the blind
World, to Censure, Condemn, Rail at, and Revile them, when
they neither faw their Persons, nor knew any of their Principles :
But the Quakers and my felf cannot close in divers Things ; and
fo I signified to the Court, I was no Quaker, but must bear my
Testimony against sundry Things that they held, as I had Occasion
and Opportunity: But withal, I told them. That as I was no
Quaker, fo I would be no Persecutor. This Spirit did Work those
two Years that I was of the Magistracy ; during which time I was
on sundry Occasions forced to declare my Dissent, in sundry
Actings of that Nature ; which, altho' done with all Moderation
of Expression, together with due respect unto the Rest, yet it
wrought great Disaffection and Prejudice in them, against me ; so
that if I should say, some of themselves set others on Work to
frame a Petition against me, that so they might have a seeming
Ground from others (tho' first moved and acted by themselves, to
lay what they could under Reproach) I should do no wrong. The
Petition was with Nineteen Hands ; it will be too long to make
Rehearsal : It wrought such a disturbance in our Town, and
in our Military Company, that when the Act of Court was
read in the Head of the Company, had I not been present,
and made a Speech to them, I fear there had been such Actings as
would have been of a sad Consequence. The Court was again
followed with another Petition of Fifty Four Hands, and the
Court returned the Petitioners an Answer with such plausibleness
of Speech, carrying with it great shew of Respect to them, readily
acknowledging, with the Petitioners, my Parts and Gifts, and how
useful 1 had been in my Place ; Professing, they had nothing at all
against me, only in that thing of giving Entertainment to Quakers ;
whereas, I broke no Law in giving, them a Night's Lodging or
two, and some Victuals : For, our Law then was, — If any Enter-
tain a Quaker, and keep him after he is warned by a Magistrate
to Depart, the Party so Entertaining, shall pay Twenty Shillings
a Week, for Entertaining them. — Since hath been made a Law, —
268 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
If any Entertain a Quaker, if but a quarter of an Hour, he is to
forfeit Five Pounds. — Another, — That if any see a Quaker, he is
bound, if he live Six Miles or moi-e from the Constable, yet he
must presently go and give Notice to the Constable, or else is
subject to the Censure of the Court (which may be hanging) —
Another, — That if the Constable know, or hear of any ( Juaker in
his Precincts, he is presently to Apprehend him, and if he will not
presently Depart the Town, the Constable is to whip him, and send
him away. The divers have been Whipped with us in our Patent ;
and truly to tell you plainly, that the Whipping of them with that
Cruelty, as some have been Whipp'd, and their Patience under it,
has sometimes been the Occasion of gaining more Adherence to
them, than if they had suffered them openly to have preached a
Sermon.
— Also another Law, — That if there be a Quakers Meeting
any where in the Colony, the Party in whose House or on whose
Ground it is, is to pay Forty Shillings ; The Preaching-Quaker
Forty Shillings ; every Hearer Forty Shillings : Yea, and if they
have Meetings, thou' nothing be spoken, when they so meet, which
they say, so it falls out sometimes Our last Law, That now
they are to be Apprehended, and carried before a Magistrate, and
by him committed to be kept close Prisoners, until they will
promise to depart, and never come again ; and will also pay their
Fees — (which I preceive they will do neither the one nor the
other) and they must be kept only with the Counties Allowance,
which is but small (namely Course Bread and Water) No Friend
may bring them any thing ; none may be permitted to speak with
them ; Nay, if they have money of then- own, they ma\' not make
use of that to relieve themselves.
In the Massachusetts (namely, Boston-Colony) after they
have Whipp'd them, they Cut their Ears, they have now, at last,
gone the furthest step they can. They Banish them upon pain of
Death, if they ever come there again. We expect that we must
do the like ; we must Dance Aftei their Pipe : Now Plimouth-Sad-
dle is on the Bay-Horse (viz. Boston) we shall follow them on the
Career : For, it is well if in some there be not a Desire to be their
Apes and Imitators in all their Proceedings in things of this
Nature.
All these Carnel and Antichristian Ways being not of God's
Appointment, effect nothing as to the Obstructing or Hindring of
them in their way or Course. It is only the Word or Spu'it of the
Lord that is able to Convince Gainsayers : They are the Mighty
Weapons of a Christian's Warfare, by which Great and Mighty
Things are done and accomplished.
They have many Meetings, and many Adherents, almost the
whole Town of Sandwich is adhering towards them ; and give me
leave a little to acquaint you with their Sufferings, which is Griev-
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 269
ous unto, and Saddens the Heart of most of the Precious Saints
of God ; It lies down and rises up with them, and they cannot put
it out of their minds, to see and hear of poor Families deprived
of their Comforts, and brought into Penury tind Want (you may
say. By what Means? And, to what End?) As far as I am
able to judge of the End, It is to force them from their Homes
and lawful Habitations, and to drive them out of their Coasts.
The Massachusetts have Banish'd Six of their Inhabitants, to be
gone upon pain of Death ; and I wish that Blood be not shed :
But our poor People are pillaged and plundered of their Goods ;
and haply, when they have no more to satisfy their unsatiable
Desire, at last may be forced to flee, and glad they have their
Lives for a Prey.
As for the Means by which they are impoverished ; These in
the first place were Scrupulous of an Oath ; why then we must put
in Force an old Law, — That all must take the Oath of Fidelity.
This being tendered, they will not take it ; and then we must add
more Force to the Law ; and that is, — If any Man refuse, or
neglect to take it by such a time, he shall pay Five Pounds, or
depart the Colony. — When the time is come, they are the same as
they were ; Then goes out the Marshal, and f etcheth away their
Gows and other Cattle. Well, another Court comes, They are
required to take the Oath again, — They cannot — Then Five
Pounds more : On this Account Thirty Five Head of Cattle, as I
have been credibly informed, hath been by the Authority of our
Court taken from them the latter part of this Summer ; and these
people say, If they have more right to them, than themselves,
Let them take them. Some that had a Cow only, some Two
Cows, some Three Cows, and many small Children in their
Families, to whom, in Summer time, a Cow or Two was the great-
est Ontward Comfort they had for their Subsistence. A poor
Weaver that had Seven or Eight small children (I know not which)
he himself Lame in his Body, had but Two Cows, and both taken
from him. The Marshal asked him. What he would do? He
must have his Cows. The Man said, That God that gave him
them, he doubted not, but would still provide for him.
To fill up the measure yet more full, tho' to the further
emptying of Sandwich-Men of their outward Comforts. The last
Court of Assistants, the first Tuesday of this Instant, the Court
was pleased to determine Fines on Sandwich-Men for Meetings,
sometimes on First Days of the Week, sometimes on other Days,
as they say : They m5et ordinarily twice in a Week, besides the
Lord's Day, One Hundred and Fifty Pounds, whereof W. New-
land is Twenty Four Pounds, for himself and his Wife, at Ten
Shillings a Meeting. W. Allen Forty Six Pounds, some affirm it
Forty Nine Pounds. The poor Weaver afore spoken of. Twenty
Pounds, Brother Cook told me, one of the Brethen at Barnstable
270 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
certified him, That he was in the Weaver's House, when cruel
Barloe (Sandwich Marshal) came to demand the Sum, and said,
he was fully informed of all the poor Man had, and thought, if all
lay together, it was not worth Ten Pounds. What will be the
end of such Courses and Practices, the Lord only knows. I
heartily and earnestly pray, that these, and such like Courses,
neither raise up among us, or bring in upon us, either the Sword, or
any devouring Calamity, as a just Avenger of the Lord's Quarrel,
for Acts of Injustice and Oppression ; and that we may every one
find out the Plague of his own Heart ; and putting away the Evils
of his own Doings, and meet the Lord by Entreaties of Peace,
before it be too late, and there be no Eemedy.
Our Civil Powers are so exercised in Things appertaining to
the Kingdom of Christ, in Matters of Religion and Conscience,
that we have no time to effect any thing that tends to the Promo-
tion of the Civil Weal, or the prosperity of the Place ; but now we
must have a State-Religion, such as the Powers of the World will
allow, and no other : A State-Ministry, and a State way of
Maintenance : And we must Worship and Serve the Lord Jesus
as the World shall appoint lis : We must all go to the publick
Place of Meeting, in the Parish where he dwells, or be prevented ;
I am Informed of Three or Fourscore, last Court presented, for-
not coming to publick Meetings ; and let me tell you how they
brought this about : You may remember a Law once made, call'd
Thomas Hinckley's Law, — That if any neglected the Worship of
God, in the Place where he lives, and sets up a Worship contrary
to God, and the Allowance of this Government, to the public
Prophanation of God's Holy Day and Ordinance, shall pay Ten
Shillings. — This Law would not reach what then was aimed at :
Because he must do so and so ; that is, all things therein ex-
pressed, or else break not the Law. In March last a Court of
Deputies was called, and some Acts touching Quakers were made ;
and then they contrived to make this Law serviceable to them ;
and that was by putting out the word [and] and putting m the
word [or] which is a Disjunctive, and makes every Branch to
bepome a Law. So now, if any do neglect, or will not come to
the publick Meetings, Ten Shillings for every Defect. Certainly
we either have less Wit, or more Money, than the Massachusetts :
For, for Five Shilling a Day, a man may stay away, till it come to
Twelve or Thirteen Pounds, if he had it but to pay them : And
these Men altering this Law now in March, yet left it Dated,
June 6, 1651, and so it stands as the Act -of a General Court;
they to be the Authors of it Seven Years before it was in being ;
and so you your selves have your part and share in it, if the
Recorder lye not. But what may be the Reason that they should
not by anc'ther Law, made and dated by that Court, as well effect
what was intended, as by altering a Word, and so the whole sense
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 271
of the Law ; and leave this their Act by the Date of it charged on
another Court's Account? Surely the chief Instruments in the
Busiaess, being privy to an Act of Parliament for Liberty, should
too openly have acted repugnant to a Law of England ; but if
they can do the Thing, and leave it on a Court, as making it Six
Years before the Act of Parliament, there can be no danger in
this. And that they were privy to the Act of Parliament for
Liberty, to be then in being, is evident, That the Deputies might
be free so act it. They told us, That now the Protector stood not
engaged to the Articles for Liberty, for the Parliament had now
taken the Power into their own Hands, and had given the Pro-
tector a new Oath, Only in General, to maintain the Protestant
Religion ; and so produced the Oath in a Paper, in Writing ;
whereas, the Act of Parliament, and the Oath, are both in one
Book, in Print : So that they who were privy to the one, could not
be Ignorant of the other. But still all is well, if we can keep the
People Ignorant of their Liberties and Priviledges, that we have
Liberty to Act in our own "Wills what we please.
We are wrapped up in a Labyrinth of Confused Laws, that
the Freemen's Power is quite gone ; and it was said, last June-
Court, by one, — That they knew nothing the Freemen had there to
do. — Sandwich-Men may go to the Bay, lest they be taken up for
Quakers : W. Newland was there about his Occasions, some Ten
Days since, and they put him in Prison Twenty Four Hours, and
sent for divers to Witness against him ; but they had not Proof
enough to make him a Quaker, which if they had, he should have
been Whipp'd : Nay, they may not go about their Occasions in
other Towns in our Colony, but Warrants lie in Ambush to
Apprehend and bring them before a Magistrate, to give an
Account of their Business. Some of the Quakers in Rhode
Island came to bring Goods, to Trade with them, and that
for far Reasonabler Terms, than the Professing and Oppressing
Merchants of the Country ; but that will not be suffered : So that
unless the Lord step in, to their Help and Assistance, in some way
beyond Man's Conceiving, their Case is sad, and to be pitied ; and
truly it moves Bowels of Compassion in ail sorts, except those in
place, who carry it with a high Hand towards them. Through
Mercy we have yet among us worthy Mr. Dunster, whom the Lord
hath made boldly to bear Testimony against the Spirit of
Persecution.
Our Bench now is, Tho. Prence, Governour ; Mr. Collier,
Capt. Willet, Capt. Winslow, Mr. Alden, Lieut. Southworth, W.
Bradford, Tho. Hinckley. Mr. Collier left June would not sit on
the Bench, if I sate there ; and now will not sit the next Year,
unless he may have Thirty Pounds sit by him. Our Court and
Deputies last June made Capt. Winslow a Major. Surely we are
Mercenary Soldiers, that must have a Major imposed Upon us.
272 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Doubtless next Court they -may choose us a Governour, and
Assistants also. A Freeman shall need to do nottijng but bear
such Burdens as are laid upon him. Mr. Alden has deceived the
Expectations of many, and indeed lost the Affection of such, as
I judge were his Cordial Christian Friends ; who is very active in
such Ways, as I pray God may not be charged on him, to be
Oppression of a High Nature. James Ccdwokth.
A tabular statement of the amount of the fines, &c., of the
Sandwich Quakers in the years 1658, 1659 and 1660 :
Cattle taken. Remarks.
£
Shs
Kalph Allen, Sen'r,
8
3 horses, &c.
68
Ralph " Jr.,
4
18
Joseph "
2 pr. Wheels and a
Cloak ■
5
12
George "
8
25
15
William "
IS
1 horse, 2 colts, 15
bush, corn, &c.
86
17
Matthew, "
16
8 bnsh. corn,
48
16
John "
5
Thomas Greenfield,
1
all his corn,
4
Robert Harper,
William Giflord,
9
house & land.
44
15
1-2 house, 1-2 pig.
57
19
Peter Grant,
10
1 horse, corn, and wheat.
43
14
Ralph Jones,
4
1
Thomas Johnson,
house & land.
10
John Jenkins,
3
money £8,
19
10
Thomas Ewer,
money, chest, clothing,
axe,
25
08
Rich, Kerby, Sr., & Jr.,
15
S bush, corn.
87
12
Wm. Newland,
2
2 horses.
36
John Newland,
1 horse.
2
06
Edward Perry,
17
tar, feathers, &c..
89
18
Michael Turner,
9 sheep.
13
10
Daniel Wing,
12
Cattle taken, 129, 3 horses, 9 sheep, £679,02.
To the above lists may be added the names of Stephen Wing,
Henry Saunders, Samuel Kerley and others. Ralf Jones' house
was in Barnstable, but close to the Sandwich bound. He belonged
to the Sandwich Meeting. He does not appear to have been fined
only £1 for not attending meetings. Keith's wonderful story
about his cows, wants confirmation.
From 1660 to 1673, Capt. Cudworth resided at Scituate.
During this period he was often employed in settling differences
between his neighbors, &c., but sustained no office. In 1666 he
was nominated by the military company of Scituate to the oflflce
of Captain, against the advice of the Court, and his appointment
was not confirmed. This vote 'shows that he was held in high
estimation by his townsmen. June 3, 1773, Major JosiahWinslow
succeeded Mr. Thomas Prence as Governor, and made honorable
amends for the abuse and neglect which Capt. Cudworth had
received from his predecessor. He was, at the July Court re-
established into the right and privilege of a citizen, and authorized
to solemize marriages, grant subpoenas for witness, and to admin-
ister oaths. Dec. 17, 1673, he was unanimously appointed
Captain of the Plymouth forces in the proposed expedition against
GEN^EALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 278
the Dutch at New York. The following quotations from his letter
to Gov. Winslow, declining the appointment, I find in Deane'a
History of Scituate :
"Sir, I do unfeignedly and most ingenuously receive the
Court's valuation and estimation of me, in preferring me to such
a place. It is not below me or beneath me, (as some deem theirs
to be), but is above me, and far beyond any desert of mine ; and
had the Court been well acquainted with my insufficiency for" such
an undertaking, doubtless I should not have been in nomination ;
neither would it have been their wisdom to hazard the cause and
the lives of their men upon an instrument so unaccomplished for
the well management of so great a concern. So being persuaded
to myself of my own insufficiency it appears clearly and undoubt-
ediey unto me, that I have no call of God thereunto : for vox
populi, is not always vox Dei. Beside, it is evident unto me,
upon other considerations, I am not called of God unto this work
at this time. The estate and condition of my family is such as
will not admit of such a thing, being such as can hardly be
paralleled ; which was well know unto some : but it was not well
or friendly done as to me, nor faithfully as to the country, if they
did not lay my condition before the Court. My wife, as so well
known unto the whole town, is not only a weak woman, but has
so been all klong ; and now by reason of age, being sixty-seven
years and upwards, and nature decaying, so her illness grows
strongly upon her.
'■'Sir, I can truly say that I do not in the least waive the busi-
ness out of any discontent in my spirit arising from any former
difference : for the thought of all which is and shall be forever
buried, so as not to come in rcjaembrance : neither out of any
effeminate or dastardly spirit ; but I am as freely willing to serve
my King and my Country as any man, in what I am capable and
fitted for : but I do not understand that a man is called to serve
his country with the inevitable ruin and destruction of his own
family.
"These things being premised, I know your Honor's wisdom
and prudence to be such, that you will, upon serious considera-
tion thereof, conclude that I am not called of God to embrace
the call of the General Court. Sir, when I consider the Court's
act in pitching their thoughts upon me, I have many musings what
should be the reason moving them thereunto ; I conceive it cannot
be, that I should be thought to have more experience and better
abilities than others, for you, with many others, do well known,
that when I entered upon military employ, I was very raw in the
theoretic part of war, and less acquainted with the practical part :
and it was not long that I sustained my place in which I had
occasion to bend my mind and thoughts that way ; but was dis-
charged thereof, and of other publick concerns : and therein I
274 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
took VOX populi to be vox Dei, and that God did thereby call and
design me to sit still and be sequestered from all publick transac-
tions, which condition suits me so well that I have received more
satisfaction and contentment therein, than ever I did in sustain-
ing any publick place."
Capt. Cudworth was chosen, in 1674, an assistant, and
annually thereafter till 1680. In 1674, though over 70 years of
age, was re-established Captain of the Military Company -in
Scituate. Oct. 4, 1675, "Major James Cudworth was unanimously
chosen and re-established in the office of a General or Commander-
in-chief, to take the charge of our forces that are or may be sent
forth in the behalf of the Colony against the enemy, as occasion
may require."
In 1678 he was on the committee to revise the laws, and
again appointed in 1681. June 7, 1681, he was chosen a Com-
missioner of the United Colonies, and Duputy Governer. In
Sept. 1681, he went over to England as the Agent of the
Colony, and died of the small pox in London in the spring of the
following 3'ear.
Thus ended the life of one who, take him all in all, had no
superior in the Old Colony. As a christian, he was meek, humble,
and toleraut ; as a neighbor, he was mild, humane, and useful ; as
a man, he was magnanimous in all his acts, and as a commander
be was brave and able, and had the entire confidence of his
soldiers. When disfranchised and thrust out of office, he did not
murmur, he regretted that some of his ancient friends, particularly
John Alden, should be led astray, and though he condemned their
acts, yet he never allowed a difference of opinion to break the ties
of friendship. He retired to his farm, and for thirteen years was
constantly engaged in rural occupations. Referring to this period
he says, they were the happiest years of his life.
It is no credit to the memory of Gov. Thomas Prence that he
had not the" magnanimity to do justice to the merits of Gen.
Cudworth. He had many excellent qualities, but toleration in
matters of faith was not one of them, and therefore his hostility.
Gov. Hinckley was a zealous Puritan ; but he was more tolerant and
more liberal in his views. He never joined in the crusade against
the Anna Baptists, and in respect to the Quakers, many things
have been laid to his charge of which he was not guilty. What-
ever may have been his opinion in 1658 and 1674, he and all the
assistants and deputies unanimously co-operated with Gov.
Winslow in awarding justice to Gen. Cudworth. Such conduct
disai-ms criticism. Gen. Cudworth lived down all opposition, and
in his old age the highest honors in the gift of the people were
freely bestowed on him.
Of the family of Gen. Cudworth, no record has been pre-
served. His wife was living in 1674, but had deceased at the
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 275
date of his will, Sept. 15, 1681. He names therein his sons
James, Israel, and Jonathan and daughter Mary's four children,
and Hannah Jones.
His children were : James, baptized in Scituate 3d May,
1635; Mary, baptized in Scituate 23d July, 1637; Jonathan,
baptized in Scituate 16th Sept. 1638, died here; Israel, baptized
in Barnstable 18th April, 1641 ; Jonna, baptized in Barnstable
24th March, 1643.
Besides these he had a son buried in Barnstable 24th June,
1644, who died young — a daughter Hannah, and another son
named Jonathan.
James and Jonathan resided in Scituate and had families.
Israel removed to Freetown.
DAVIS.
ROBERT DAVIS
Some of the descendants of Robert Davis* have supposed
that he was the first who settled in that part of Barnstable known
from early times as Oldtown. But this is a mistake. He was not
the first nor the second- Rev. Stephen Bachiller and his company,
settled there in the winter of 1637-8. William Chase owned a
farm there very early, probably in 1639, certainly June 8, 1642,
when he mortgaged a part of it to Stephen Hopkins. He sold out
before 1648. In the division of the fences that year, it appears
that the fence on the south boundary of his land extended seventy
rods. In 1648, the Oldtown lands were owned by the following
persons, in the following order, beginning on the east at Stony
Cove, as the mill-pond was then called: 1st, Mr. Thomas Allyn
25 acres, Mr. Andrew Hallett 8, Goodman Isaac Wells 9,
Goodman James Hamblin 9, Mr. John Mayo 7, Thomas Huckins
1, Goodman Rogers Goodspeed 2, Mr. Henry Coggin 4, Samuel
House (or Howes) 4, the Sachem Nepoyetam 30, and the Sachem
Cacomicus 10. The quantities here given included only the
cleared lands fit for planting. Forest, swamps, and meadows,
were not probably included in the measurement.
In January, 1648-9, the grist mill now known as Hallett's
water-mill, had been built and the. division of the fences com-
menced at the mill. Mr. Allyn had purchased largely, and
Samuel Hinckley seven acres. Mr. Hallett, Mr. Coggin, and
Cacomicus, had sold out. After this date, the records furnish no
means of tracing the ownership of these lands.
Robert Davis' name appears on the list of those who were
able to bear arms in Yarmouth in August, 1643. He married, in
1646, and his daughters Deborah and Mary were born in Yar-
mouth the latter April 28, 1648. The birth of his son Andrew
* Two of the name of Robert Davis came over. Robert of Sudbury, bora in 1609, came
(witli Margaret Davis, perliaps his sister, aged 26) in 1638, in the confidence of Southamptott
as servant of Peter Noyes, and died 19th July, 1755, aged 47. He had a wife Bridget who
sui-vived him, and daugliters Rebecca and Sarah ; the Tatter born 10th April, 1646.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 277
in May, 1650, is on the Barnstable, and not on the Yarmoutli
return, which fixes the date of his removal with sufficient exact-
ness.
Excepting of the births of his children, the earliest entry I
find of his name on the records, is 12th May, 1657, when a grant
of "a parcel of common land" in the New Common Field was
made to him, lying between the lands of Goodman Cobb and
Goodman Gorham. He was admitted a freeman of the Colony
in 1659.
Robert Davis was not a man of wealth, was not distinguished
in political life, nor was he ever entitled to the then honorable
appellation of "Mister;" he was
"An honest good man,
And got his living by his labor,
And Goodman Shelly* was his neighbor."
His character for honesty and industry he transmitted to his
posterity.];
His lands were not recorded in 1654. His farm in 1639, was
included within the bounds of Yarmouth, and with the exception
of a small lot owned by Robert Shelly, was bounded on the west
by Indian Lane — the original boundary between the towns — on
the east, his farm was bounded by the lands of Joseph Hallett,
and on the south by Dead Swamp, including the narrow strip
between the present road and that swamp. The easterly part of
his farm was a part of the William Chase farm. The westerly
part he bought of the town, of the Indians, and of James Gor-
ham, and the south was a part of the great lot of Thomas Lum-
bert.§ His house, in 1686, was not on the present County road,
but on the higher ground north, of the swamp where the first road
probably passed. In 1686, the house of Robert Shelly was the
next west of that of Robert Davis, and both appear to have been
on the north of the swamp. In that year the town granted Good-
* Goodman Shelly was a v^ry worthy, unambitious mau, "a rolling stone that gathers no
moss" — in other words, he was often removed from place to place, and was always poor.
His wife. Goody Shelly, was a Bay lady, and a cobbler would say of her, was "high in the '
instep." If Mrs. Lothrop or Mrs'. Diminock had a party, if she was not an invited guest,
she took great oifeuce, and her seat at church on the following Sabbath would be vacant.
Rev. Mr. Lothrop complains bitterly of this trait in her character.
X All the descendants of Robert Davis for eight successive generations, have been
noted for their honest dealings aud industrious habits. Of the whole number, I find only
one whose character for integrity was doubted by his neighbors. Cornelius Davis, I pre-
sume, was a descendant of liobert, though the evidence is not satisfactory. He was not
reported honest. Perhaps his habit of carrying an Indian basket on his back was no
credit to him. It, however, is said that other peoples' goods got into that basket. Whether
or not these reports were slanderous I cannot say ; but this much is certain, he did not enjoy
an unspotted i-eputation for honesty and integrity in his dealings. There is something in
race; tor even now, the character of the ancestor can be traced in the child of the ninth
generation.
§ Thomas Lumbert's great lot was all finally owned by the descendants of Robert
Davis. In 1664, the western part was owned by Samuel Hinckley, and the eastern part by
the widow of Nicholas Davis. Robert Davis appears to have owned the uorth-easterly part
of the Lumbert lot.
278 GENKALOGIOAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
man Shelly a part of the swamp, and Robert Davis sold him "a
small gore of land," so that Shelly's lands was afterwards bounded
south by the present highway. This addition was made where
the late Capt. John Easterbrooks' old house now stands. Fifty
years ago John, Abner, and Elisha T. Davis, sons of Joseph,
owned all Eobert Davis' lands on the north of the highway.
Robert Davis died in 1693. His will is dated April 14', 1688,
and proved June 29, 1693. He names his wife Ann. To his
son Joseph he devises the land in the New Common Field, which
he bought of the Indians ;|| and to Josiah he devises the two acres
of land in the Common Field, which the town gTanted to him in
1657. He also names Josiah's house lot, now owned by Lot
Easterbrooks. He also names his son Andrew, to whom he gave
five shillings, and his son Robert ; also his daughters Deborah
Geere, Sarah, Mercy, Mary Dexter, and Hannah Dexter. His
estate was apprised at £75,13, a small sum ; but it must be remem-
bered that money had not then been depreciated, and that land at
that time was not valuable.
His widow, Ann Davis, died in 1701. Her will is dated May
5, 1699, and was proved April 1, 1701. She named Robert
Davis, my son Joseph's son, daughter Hannah Dexter, grand-
child Sarah Dexter, son Josiah's wife, and daughters Sarah Young
and Mercy Young. The fact that she names only the younger
children, indicates that she was the second wife of Robert
Davis.
1. Robert Davis of Yarmouth, in 1643, of Barnstable in
1650 where he died in 1693, probably married twice. His last
wife, whom he probably married in 1657, was named A nn.
Children horn in Yarmouth.
Deborah, Jan. 1645.
Mary, April 28, 1648.
Born in Barnstable.
Andrew, May, 1650.
John, March "l, 1652.
Robert, Aug. 1654.
Josiah, Sept. 1656.
Hannah, Sept. 1658.
. Sarah, Oct. 1660.
Joseph.
Mercy.
1. Deborah Davis married Thos. Geere of Enfield, Conn.,
had Shubael who has descendants, and Elizabeth born May 4,
1685, who died under three years of age. Thomas, the father,
II This fact is probably the foundation of the family tradition, that Robert Davis boueht
his farm of the Indians for a brass kettle. The recent discoTery of the gi-ave of lyanoueJj
has revived the old story, which has no foundation in truth. b »« "i j.i'.uougu
2.
I. ]
3.
II.
4.
,111.
■5.
IV.
6.
V.
7.
VI.
8.
VII.
9.
VIII
10.
IX.
11.
X.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 279
died 14th Jan. 1722, aged 99 years, and his wife Deborah in 1736,
aged 91.
2. Mary, married a Dexter, whose Christian name 1 cannot
find.
3. Andrew, to whom £is father gave five shillings in his will,
removed from Barnstable, perhaps to I^ew London, Conn.
4. John Davis is not named in his father's will and probably
died young.
5. Robert Davis, 2d, removed from Barnstable. Mr.
Deane, in his history of Scituate, says that "Tristram Davis, son
of Robert of Yarmouth, born in 1654, was in Scituate in 1695.
He married Sarah Archer of Braintree 1694." Mr. Savage copies
the mistake of Deane. Robert Davis, Senior, had no son Tristram.
It was probably Robert that Deane intended to name.
6. Josiah Davis' house is named in the laying out of the
County road, in 1686, as next east of Samuel Cobb's, on the north
side of the way. It stood a few feet east of the present dwelling
bouse of Lot Easterbrooks, and was taken down not many years
ago. In his will, dated 21st April, 1709, and proved the 5th of
October following, he names his nine children, all of whom were
then living. To his sons John, Josiah, and Seth, he gave his
dwelling house, the land he bought of James Gorham, the Com-
mon Field land, given him by his father, and one-half of the
orchard lying before his door, on the south side of the road. To
his sons Jonathan and Stephen, the other half of the orchard,
&c. He names his daughters Hannah Cobb, and Ruth, Sarah and
Anna unmarried. The legacies to his daughters he ordered to be
paid out of the £53 he ventured in trading at sea, £30 in the
hands of his son John, and £23 in the hands of Gersham Cobb.
His estate was apprised at over £500, corn being then worth 10
shillings a bushel, showing that there had been some depreciation
in the currency since the death of his father. In the division of
the common he was entitled to 43 1-2 shares, a number above the
average. He was a soldier in Capt. John Gorham's company in
King Phillip's war in 1675, and one of the proprietors of Gorham-
town.
7. Hannah Davis married a Dexter whose Christian name
does not appear on the record. She had a daughter Sarah.
8. Sarah Davis married, 28th Oct. 1679, Joseph Young , of
Eastham, son of the first John and had a family.
9. Joseph Davis resided in Barnstable. His family was
one of the most respectable in town. He died, say the Church
Records, Aug. 10, 1735, aged about 70 years, and his widow
Hannah May 2, 1739, aged 68.
10. Mercy Davis married first Nathaniel Young, brother of
280 GENKALOGIOAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Joseph above named, and 10th June, 1708, Nathaniel Mayo, of
Eastham.
(7-6) Josiah Davis, son of Robert, born Sept. 1656, married
Ann, daughter of Richard Taylor, (tailor) of Yarmouth, June 25,
1679, and had
12. I. John, 2d Sept. 1681, married M. Dimmock Aug. 13,
1705.
13. II. Hannah, April, 1683, married Gersham Cobb Feb. 24,
1702-3.
14. III. Josiah, Aug. 1687, married M. Taylor July 10, 1712.
15. IV. Seth, Oct. 1692, married Lydia Davis Aug. 6, 1727.
16. V. Ruth, Feb. 1694, married John Scudder, 19th May,
1715.
17. VI. Sarah, Feb. 1696, married Elisha Taylor 24th Oct.
1718.
18. VII. Jonathan, 1698, married Susan Allyn April 24, 1735.
19. VIII. Stephen, 12th Dec. 1700, married Rebecca .
20. IX. Anna, 5th April 1702, married Theophilus Witherell,
1724.
(10-9) Joseph Davis, son of Robert, married, by Mr.
Thatcher, March 1695, to Hannah, daughter of James Cobb.
Children born in Barnstable.
21. I. Robert, 7th March 1696-7 married Jane Annable, Oct.
8, 1719.
22. II. Joseph, 23d March, 1698-9.
23. III. James, 30th July, 1700, married Thankful Hincldey
Jan. 4, 1727-8.
24. IV. Gersham, 5th Sept. 1702, married three wives.
25. V. Hannah, 5th March, 1705, married Samuel Dimmock
1724.
26. VI. Mary, 5th June 1707, married Matthias Gorham March
1, 1730.
27. VII. Lydia, 12th Feb. 1709, died unmarried Dec. 30,
1763.
28. VIII. Daniel, 28th Sept. 1713, married twice.
(12-1) John Davis, Esq., son of Josiah, born in Barnstable
2d Sept. 1681, married, Aug. 13, 1705, Mehitable, daughter of
Sbubnrd Dimmock. Her father resided for a time in Yarmouth,
and she was a member of the Yarmouth Church, and was dis-
missed to the East Church in Barnstable Feb. 12, 1725-6. She
died May 1775, aged 89. She was blind several years previous
to her death. John Davis, Esq., was a captain, a justice of the
peace, &c., and was a man of note in his day. He died 29 — — ,
1736, aged 58, leaving a good estate. He bought a part of the
great lot of Mr. Thomas Lumbard, and the house which he built
thereon is now standing, and is now owned by the successors of
,30.
II.
31.
III.
32.
IV.
33.
V.
34.
VI.
35.
VII,
Feb.
36.
VII]
37.
IX.
38.
X.
39.
XI.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 281
the late Eleazer Cobb, Sen'r, and George L. Gorham.
His OMldren born in Barnstable, were :
29. I. Thomas, Oct. 1, 1706, married Susan Sturgess Nov. 17,
1726.
John, Sept. 8, 1708, married twice.
Solomon, April 5, 1711, died July 18, 1712.
William, April 10, 1713, died July 4, 1713.
Solomon, June 24, 171.5, married twice.
Mehitable, Aug. 10, 1717, married four times.
. William, Aug. 24, 1719, married Martha Crocker
. 2, 1745.
I. Josiah, Feb. 17, 1722.
Isaac, ^ died Oct. 28, 1724.
>- twins, Aug, 3, 1724. ,
Jesse, ) died Aug. 13, 1724.
Isaac, March 1, 1727, died Nov. 2., 1727.
(14-3) Josiah Davis, son of Josiah, married, July 10, 1712,
Meliitable, daughter of Edward Taylor of West Barnstable.
Children born in Barnstable.
Edward, 19th June, 1713.
Mary, 8th Aug. 1714.
. Josiah, 2d Aug. 1718.
A Josiah Davis resided in the high single house next west of
Capt. Jonathan Davis' afterwards bought by James Davis, and
now owned by his descendants.
(15-4) Seth Davis, son of Josiah, was of Barnstable in 1728.
Aug. 6, 1727, Lydia Davis was admitted to the East Church.
Aug. 4, 1728, Lucy, daughter of Seth and Lydia Davis, was
baptized. The name then disappears on the Church records.
Sept. 29, 1755, a Seth Davis married Sarah Sturgis. I thinii
Cornelius Davis was his son. He owned Josiah Davis' house,
who was probably his grandfather.
(18-7) Capt. Jonathan Davis, son of Josiah, resided in
Barnstable. He was a sea captain. His first wife was Elizabeth
. She died Sept. 14, 1733, aged 32. He married,
April 24, 1735, Susannah Allyn. She died Aug. 14, 1751, aged
36. According to the Church records he died, Dec. 2, 1782, aged
83. His grave stones in the burying ground near the Unitarian
Meeting House, say Jan. 4, 1784, in the 82d year of his age.
His will was proved Jan. 1788. He names Wm. Belford and
daughter Ann, to whom he gives all his estate, and i^s daughter
Elizabeth. Neither correspond with the record of his birth. His
house stood on the north side of the road, between the houses of
Samuel Cobb and Josiah Davis. His daughters Ann and Eliza-
beth were his only cliildren living at the time of his death. Ann
taught a school several years. She married John Belford, one of
40.
I.
41.
II.
42.
Ill
282 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
the Scotch Irish, (see Delap) and had Susy Davis baptized Oct.
11, 1772; Edward, baptized .Jan. 1, 1770, died young; Edward
again, baptized Oct. 1778; and Davis, June 18, 1781. The
descendants write their name Ford.
His children born in Barnstable, and baptized at the East
Church, were : ?
43. I. Elizabeth, baptized Nov. 9, 1729, died young.
44. II. Elizabetii, baptized Oct. 24, 1736, died young.
45. III. Susannah, born July 29, 1738.
46. IV. Elizabeth, baptized Oct. 4, 1741, married
Hamlin.
47. V. Anna, baptized May 1, 1743, married Wm. Belford.
48. VI. Jonathan, baptized June 14, 1747, died young.
(19-8) Stephen Davis, called Stephen Jr., to distinguish him
from Stephen, son of Dolar, who was ten years his senior, was
son of Josiah, born in Barnstable Dec. 12, 1700. He bought the
ancient John Scudder house of his brother-in-law, John Scudder,
Jr., and six acres of land, a part of Rev. Mr. Lothrop's great
lot. The old house was taken downiJ^1803, by his son Jonathan,
and the dwelling house of the late George Davis stands on the
same spot. He married, in 1723, Rebecca , and' had a-
large family, the record of which on the town books is imperfect,
and the deficiencies are supplied from the Church records. He
joined the East Church, and was baptized March 21, 1773, at the
age of 72. He died Jan. 4, 1782, aged 81, and his wife Rebecca
Nov. 28, 1769, aged 60. Both have monuments in the grave yard
near the Unitarian Meeting House.
Children born in Barnstable.
49. I. Prince, Nov. 17, 1724, married Sarah Coleman, Feb.
15, 1750.
50. II. Ann, Dec. 13, 1726, married Benjamin Cobb, May 17,
1749.
51. III. Isaac, Sept. 14, 1729, married Hannah Davis, Jan. 16,
1752.
52. IV. Rebecca, Feb. 26, 1731, married Benjamin Childs, Jr.,
Nov. 6, 1751.
53. V. Susannah, May 14, 1734, married Solomon Otis, Jr.
54. VI. Sarah, Jan. 20, 1737, married Jonathan Bacon, Jr.,
May 13, 1755.
55. VII. Stephen, baptized Aug. 17, 1740.
56. VIII. Abigail, baptized May 15, 1743.
57. IX. Thankful, baptized Oct. 26, 1746, married Samuel
Smith.*
58. X. Jonathan, baptized Oct. 1, 1749, married Susannah
Lewis.
(21-1) Dea. Robert Davis, son of Joseph, resided in Barn-
stable, and lived where the late Nath'l Holmes's house now
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 283
stands. He had a Cooper's Shop, and was a part of his life
captain of the Barnstable and Boston packet. He was much
employed in town affairs and was often one of the selectmen.
He was a man of sound judgment, and held in esteem by all who
knew him. He married, Oct. 8, 1719, Jane Annable. He has no
children recorded on the town or church records. He died June
1, 1765, aged 69, and his wife Jane Nov. 27, 1766, aged 66.
In his will he devises his estate to James, son of his brother
Gersham Davis.
(22-2) Joseph Davis, son of Josiah, I persume, died young
— I find no notice of him on the records.
(23-3) James Davis, son of Joseph, married, Jan. 4, 1727-8,
Thankful, daughter of Joseph Hinckley of West Barnstable. She
died Aug. 20, 174.5, aged 38, and her ^husband about the same
time, leaving a family of seven children, who were brought up
by their grandfather Hinckley.
Children horn in Barnstable.
59 I. Hannah, baptized July 4, 1729, died young.
60. II. Hannah, May 31, 1731, married twice.
61. III. Joseph, Aug. 15, 1733, married twice.
62. IV. Benjamin, June 27, 1635, married Patience Bacon, May
19, 1757.
63. V. Eunice, Aug. 8, 1737, married Jones of Hing-
ham.
64. VI. Thankful, Nov. 7, 1739, married Joseph Palmer of
Falmouth, Dec. 6, 1765.
65. VII. James, March 6, 1741, married Reliance Cobb.
66. Vin. David, Jan. 4, 1743.
67. IX. Barnabas, died young.
(24-4) Dea. Gersham Davis, son of Joseph, born in Barn-
stable 5th Sept. 1702, was a farmer, and was a man of good
standing. His house stood where Capt. Pierce's house now stands,
at the north-west corner of the great lot laid out to Thomas Lum-
bard. He married thrice. First, Feb. 24, 1725-6, Elizabeth Sturgis,
daughter of Samuel, she died June 6, 1727, aged 21. He married
2d Mary, daughter of Joseph Hinckley of West Barnstable,
Sept. 23, 1731. He married for his third wife, in 1757, Thankful
Skiff of Sandwich. He died May 6, 1790, in the 88th year of his
age.
Children horn in Barnstable.
68. I. James, June 2, 1727, married Jean Bacon, Oct. 3,
1745.
69. II. Eobert, July 12, 1732, and died soon.
70. III. Samuel, Sept. 13, 1734, married Mary Gorham, Jr.,
Dec. 22, 1757.
284 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
71. IV. Elizabeth, Aug. 12, 1736, married Josepli Crocker,
Jr., Jan. 12, 1758.
72. V. Mary, Dec. 5, 1740.
73. VI. Abigail, July 12, 1744, died voung.
74. VII. Abigail, July 12, 1746.
75. VIII. Mercy, Feb. 4, 1748, died young.
(28-8) Hon Daniel Davis, son of Joseph, born in Barnstable
28th Sept. 1713, was Judge of Probate, and held other offices of
trust and responsibility. He resided in the house afterwards
occupied by his son Dr. John Davis and now owned by Daniel Cobb,
a descendant in the female line. He was an active man, and an
ardent patriot during the Revolution. He often represented the
town in the General Court, was on committees, and performed
much labor. As I have hjid occasion to remark in a former arti-
cle, at the commencemeBt of the Revolutionary struggle, he was
inclined to take sides with the radical portion of the whigs ; but
was afterwards more conservative in his views. Barnstable had
not a more devoted patriot than Daniel Davis. He married
Mehitable, ' daughter of Thomas Lothrop. The land on which
Daniel Davis built his house, was a part of the original allotment
to Joseph Lothrop, the father of Thomas. He married for his
second wife, July 7, Mehitable Sturgis, noticed below. Hon.
Daniel Davis died 22d April, 1799, aged 85 years, 6 months, and
13 days.
CMldren horn in Barnstable.
76. I. Mary, Axjril 29, 1740.
77. II. Daniel, Oct. 10, 1741.
78. III. Robert, March 27, 1743.
79. IV. John, Oct. 7, 1744.
80. V. Deborah, Aug. 13, 1746, married, Oct. 6, 1765, Josiah
Crocker.
81. VI. Thomas, Aug. 24, 1748.
82. VII. Desire, March 27, 1750, married Freeman Parker.
83. VIII. Ansel, March 13, 1752.
84. IX. Experience, July 11, 1754, married Joseph Annable.
85. X. Mehitable, July 11, 1756.
86. XI. Lothrop, lost at sea, no issue.
87. XII. Daniel, May 8, 1762.
(29-1) Thomas Davis, son of Capt. John, born Oct. 1, 1706,
married Nov. 17, 1726, Susannah Sturgis, daughter of Edward.
He had a daughter Susy baptized in the East Church April 17,
1737. He died April 9, 1738, and his widow married, Aug. 12,
1739, Mr. Elisha Gray of Harwich.
(30-2) John Davis, son of Capt. John, born Sept. 8, 1708,
married, Feb. 5, 1720-30, Abigail Otis,.and second Anna Allen,
March 23, 1736. He had sons. Josiah and John, and daughter
Martha, baptized in the East Church April 25, 1742.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. ^^85
(33-6) Solomon, son of Capt. John, born June 24, 1715, was
a merchant and resided in Boston. During the siege he removed
his family to Barnstable. He was an intimate friend of Gov.
Hancock. In 1791 he was dining with his Excellency in company
with some of the rare wits of the day, John Kowe, Joseph Balch,
and others, Mr. Davis made some witty remark, which induced
Mr. Balch to say to him, "Well, Davis, you had better go home
now and die, for you will never say as good a thing as that again."
On his way home he was taken suddenly ill, and sat down on the .
steps of King's Chapel, from whence he was removed to his hduse
in the vicinity, where he shortly after died.
Solomon Davis married Jan. 29, 175X), Elizabeth Wendell of
Portsmouth, N. H. She died at Plymouth Feb. 20, 1777, aged
about 47. She was the mother of all his children. He married,
Nov. 18, 1777, her sister Catharine Wendell,. who died April 7,
1808, aged 66. He died June 6, 1791, aged 76. ,
His children were : 1, John, born May 19, 1753 ; 2, Solomon,
Sept. 25, 1754, died at sea Sept. 1789 ; 3, Edward, Dec. 18, 1765,
died at sea Nov. 11, 1708 ; 4, Thomas, July 26, 1757, died at
Falmouth, Eng., Oct. 10, 1775 ; 5, Elizabeth, Oct. 14, 1758, died
Aug. 14, 1833. (She married Dr. David Townsend May 24, 178o,
^d was the mother of Dr. Solomon Davis Townsend of Boston.)
6, Mehitable, July 14, 1760, died Oct. 28, 1761 ; 7, Henry, Oct.
8, 1761, died March 15, 1762; 8, Josiah, Sept. S4, 1763, died
June 29, 1777, buried at Barnstable; 9, Isaac, April 2,1765,
married Elizabeth Fellows, died Dec. 5, 1800, at Hartford, Conn, ;
10, William, April 26, 1768, married Martha Harris, he died Sept.
14, 1804, at Dorchester. Solomon Davis has descendants living
in Boston, and other places, Gustavus F. Davis president of the
City Bank, Hartford, Conn., is a descendant of Isaac Davis of
Boston and many others of note.
Dr Solomon Davis Townsend of Boston, son of Elizabetii
Davis, born March 1, 1793, married his cousin, a daughter of
Edward Davis, and is now three score years and ten. He was
consulting surgeon to the Massachusetts General Hospital fronl
1835 to 1839, and Acting Surgeon frdm 1839. to 1863, when be
tendered his resignation of the place he had so long and honorably
filled. In the resolutions adopted by the Trustees of the Hospital,
they expressed their high appreciation of his long, faithful and
valuable, services, of his generous devotion to the interest of that
institution, of his professional skill, of his ability, sound judg-
ment, assiduity and kindness, and his consistent and gentlemanly
conduct.
(34-6) Mehitable Davis, daughter of Capt. John, born in
Barnstable Aug.. 10, 1717, was a remarkable woman, and deserv-
ing of especial note. She married four husbands, all men of
character, influence and respectability, namely :
286 UENEALOGICAL KOTKS OF BAKNSTAB1,K FAMILIES.
At 23 she married, April 9, 1741, Dr. James Hersey, a native
of Hingham, a man of learning and skillful in his profession. By
him she had a son Ezekiel, born Jan. 14, 1741-2. He died July
22, 1741, aged 26. His first wife was.Lydia Gorham, whom he
married July 27, 1737. She had a son James, bom Nov. 9, 1738,
and she died Nov. 9, 1740. Dr. James Hersey owned that por-
tion of the Dimmoek farm on which the fortification house stood,
and whether he resided in that, or in a house that formerly stood
a little west of the present residence of Asa Young, Esq., 1 cannot
say. Dr. James was succeeded in his practice by his brother, Dr.
Abner Hersey, a curious compound of good sense and eccen-
tricity.
2d, at 26, she married, Oct. 21, 1744, John Russell, son of
Dr. John of Barnstable. By him she had one son John, whose
birth is not recorded. The father died Aug. 1, 1748, aged 24.
The son was baptized Sept. 4, 1748, on the day his widowed
mother was admitted to the East Church. He was captain of the
marines on board the ill fated private armed ship Gen. Arnold,
Capt. James Magee, lost in Plymouth Harbor Dec. 26, 1778, when
nearly all on board perished. Though a strong, robust man, he
was one of the first who perished. On his. monument in Plymouth
church vard it is stated that'he was then 31, if &o, he was born
in 1747.'
3d, at 37, on the 9th of May, 1754, she became the second
wife of John Sturgis, Esq., of Barnstable. By him she had Sarah,
whose birth is recorded with sufBcient particularity, namely : at
"3 1-2 o'clock A. M., Thursday, April 17, 1755, and baptized on
the Sunday following;" and John baptized March 19, 1758.
John Sturgis, Esq., died Aug. 10, 1759, aged 56.
4th, at 44, she married, July 7, 1761, her relative, Hon.
Daniel Davis, and again assumed her maiden name. By him she
had one son, Daniel, born May 8, 1762.
Her daughter Sarah married the late Mr. Isaiah Parker of
West Barnstable, had a family and lived to be aged. John was a
graduate of Harvard College, and died early. Her son Daniel
was Solieiter General, and a distinguished man. She survived all
her husbands, but at last "the woman died also," namely : on the
aged 87 years.
Her son, Hon. Daniel Davis, married-Lois Freeman, daughter
of Constant Freeman, and sister of the Rev. James Freeman of
the Stone Chapel, Boston, and had a large family. Louisa, the
eldest daughter, married William Minot, Esq., of Boston. Rear
Admiral Charles Henry Davis, of the U. S. Navy, is his youngest
son.
(35-7) Capt. William Davis owned the house and estate
which was his father's. He was a sea captain, and died in 1759,
aged forty years.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES. 267
He married Feb. 2, 1745, Martha, daughter of Timothy
Crocker, Esq., of Barnstable. She died Dec. 2, 1772, aged 67.
Children horn in Barnstable.
1, Mehitable, March 4, 1746, married Benjamin Gorham, Jr.,
(called Young Fiddler) a. man of more wit than sound judgment ;
2, William, born Jan. 18, 1748, was clerk in the store of his uncle
Solomon in Boston, and died unmarried at the age of 24, of
yellow fever; 3, Catharine, born April 29, 1761, married Stephen
Hall of Sandwich; 4, Elizabeth, born April 13, 1755, married
Eleazer Cobb, Sen'r, and inherited half of her father's house
where she resided; 5, Martha, born Aug. 19, 1758, (she was
always called Patty) married John Cobb, who bought the
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., house, and had a family. Mrs. Hetty
Davis Hallett, widow of Andrews, is her daughter ; 6, Ruth, born
Jan. 24, 1763, married Capt. Thomas Gray of Yarmouth; 7,
Jesse, who died aged 2 years.
(36-8) Josiah Davis, son of Capt. John, born Feb. 19, 1722.
Of this Josiah Davis I have no certain information.
(40-1) Ebenezer, son of the 2d Josiah, born 19th June, 1713.
Of Ebenezer I have no certain intelligence. I think he removed
to Maine.
(42'-3) Josiah Davis, son of 2d Josiah, born Aug. 2, 1718,
married, in 1745, Thankful Matthews ; and May 3, 1760, Thankful
Gorham. He resided in the house which was his father's, and sold
the same, on his removal to Gorham, to the late Mr. James
Davis. He had Josiah and Thankful baptized June 6, 1756;
Mary, Sept. 3, 1759 ; Josiah, Oct. 11, 1761, and three children
born in Gorham, in 1773, 1776 and 1780. .
(49-1) Prince Davis, son of Stephen, Jr., born Nov. 17,
1724, was a house carpenter. He resided in Barnstable till 1760, ,
when he removed to Gorham, Maine, of which town he was a
proprietor in the right of his grandfather Josiah, who was a
soldier in the Company of Capt. John Gorham in King Phillip's
war in 1675. Mr. Prince Davis early joined the East Church in
Bai'nstable, and continued to be a church member after his removal
east. At Gorham his name appears as one of the selectmen, and
in church affairs he was a prominent man. He was married by
Rev. Mr. Green, Feb. 17, 1749-50, to Sarah Coleman, daughter of
James, of Barnstable. The births of his children are not on the
town records. He died in Gorham in 1809, aged 85 years, and
his wife in 1804. He had five . children born in Barnstable, four
baptized Oct. 9, 1757, namely, Elijah^ Edward, Prudence and
Alice, and Temperance baptized Nov. 18, 1759 ; and five born in
Gorham, namely, Isaac, March 27, 1762'; David, Oct. 20, 1764;
Rebecca, July 15, 1766; Thomas, May 14, 1768; and Jonathan
. Jnlv 10, 1770.
288 GENRALOGIOAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Elijah married Pbebe Hopkins April 8, 1780; Prudence
married Josiah Jenkins June 15, 1776, and died 1836; Alice
married Enoch Frost April 22, 1779, and died 1802 ; Temperance
married Da\'id Harding June 23, 1781, and died 1810 ; Isaac did
not marry, died in 1738; David married Martha Watson March
17,1788; Rebecca married Geo. Knight March 14, 1789, died
June 18, 1836'; Thomas did not marry ; Jonathan married Mary
April 10, 1796.*
(51-3) Isaac Davis, son of Stephen, Jr., born Sept. 14,
1729, married Hannah Davis, daughter of James. His house
was on the north-easterly part of Thomas Lumbert's great lot, on
the south side of the road, opposite his grand-father's house. He
had a son, and a daughter Rebecca baptized' Aug. 3, 1755, and
another daughter of the same name baptized Jan. 15, 1768, and a
son Isaac born Dec. 3, 1764. The latter married Abigail Gorham,
and had Stephen G., Cashier of the Shawmut Bank, Boston,
Frederick of Falmouth, and others. The widow Hannah, of the
first Isaac, married, June 17, 1783, Col. David .Gorham, she died
Oct. 3, 1810, aged 79 yrs. and 3 mos.
(58-10) Jonathan Davis, son of Stephen, Jr., born in Barn-
stable, baptized Oct. 1, 1749, married Susannah Lewis, born the
same day, Sept. 27, 1749, or rather within a few hours of each
other. He went to sea in early life, and was in after life a
farmer. He had sons Stephen, Solomon, and George, and a
daughter Susannah yet living. Stephenwas a carpenter, removed
to Falmouth, and lived to be aged, and has descendants there.
Solomon was a carpenter, died a young man, and has descendants
in Dennis. George was a shoemaker, and resided on the paternal
estete, and died Nov. 6, 1847, aged 68, leaving one son, the pre-
sent Mr. Isaac Davis. He being now the sole representative on
the voting list of Barnstable, of the many Davis families of that
town. Mr. Jonathan Davis died Sept. 22, 1840, aged 90. She
died Sept. 25, 1841, aged 91 years.
(61-3) Joseph Davis, son of James, born Aug. 16, 1733, was
a tanner and currier and resided in a house that stood near where
the first Robert's stood. He married first Lucretia Thatcher Nov.
17, 1763, and bad Phebe, Rebecca, who married Job Gorham,
Elisha Thatcher, Mary, Lucretia, Joseph and Benjamin. By his
second wife, Mary Bacon, John, Lucretia and Abner.
John, (father of Joseph and Barnabas of Boston) built a
house near where the first Josiah Davis house stood. Abner
(father of Adolphus and James W., of Boston,) inherited the
paternal mansion. He was a lawyer, and Clerk of the Courts.
Elisha Thacher was a tanner and shoe maker, died a young man,
* Manuscript letter of .Josiah Pierce, Esq., author of her history, of Gorham, Maine.
The climate of Maine seems to agree with the Davis fanjily. Prince has more descendants
than his nine brothers and sisters.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 289
leaving a large family of young children. His widow lived to
great age.
(62-4) Benjamin Davis, son of James, married, May 19,
1754, Patience Bacon.
(66-7) James Davis, son of James, married Reliance Cobb.
He had James, David, and others. James removed to Boston, was
a brass founder, acquired a large estate, and died very suddenly in
1862, aged 84.
(68-1) James Davis, son of Dea. Gersham, married, Oct. 3,
1745, Jean Bacon. His uncle, Dea. Robert Davis, made him his
heir. His children were: 1, Elizabeth, July 2, 1746 ; 2, Elizabeth
again, March 25, 1748; 3, Jean, April 24, 1760; 4, Patience,
June 13,' 1752; 5, Desire, Oct. 22, 1754; 6, Joseph, Sept. 19,
1757; 7, Robert, June 30, 1760; 8, Hannah, Dec. 19, 1762; 9,
James, Jan. 19, 1767 ; baptized May 5, 1765 ; and Desire baptized
Sept. 20, 1772.
C70-3) Samuel Davis, son of Dea. Gersham, married, Dec.
23, 1759, Mary Gorham, Jr., and had Ebeuezer baptized July 6,
1760 ;, Samuel, July 4, 1762; Mary, Sept. 25, 1763; Ebenezer,
Feb. 17, 1765; Prince, May 17, 1767; William, June 9, 1771.
This familv removed to Gorham, where they had Elizabeth April
14, 1777. "
(79-4) Hon. John Davis, son of Daniel, born Oct. 7, 1744.
He practiced medicine many years, was Judge of Probate, and held
many responsible offices. He was a mild, pleasant man, not inherit-
ing the energy of character for which his father was distinguished.
He resided in the early part of his life in the house now standing
that was Col. Davis Gorham's. -After the decease of his father he
removed to the paternal mansion, where he continued to reside till
his death. He was afflicted with cancer on the nose which nearly
destroyed that organ. He had a large family. The late Hon. Job
C. Davis was his son, who married Desire Loring daughter of Otis
Loring — had 12 children.
In 1643, five of the name of Davis were "able to bear arms" in
Barnstable, viz : Dolar or Dollard and his sons John, Nicholas.
Simon, and Samuel,; and in Yarmouth, Robert Davis, afterwards of
Barnstable. Dr. Palfrey informed Mr. Savage that the graves of the
ancestors of Dolar Davis were at Bennefield, Northamptonshire,
and that was probably his native town. -He married as early as
1618, Margery, daughter of Richard Willard, of Horsmonden, in
the Counl^ of Kent, where all his sons were born, and perhaps his
daughter Mary. He came over in 1634, in company with his
brother-in-law, Major Simon Willard, a man of note in the history
of the Massachusetts Colony. He stopped first at Cambridge, a nd
in 1635 was one of the first settlers, and had a house lot on Water
street. He sold his lands in Cambridge in 1636, and removed. He
290 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
was also one of the proprietors of the lands in Concord. In 1638
he was of Duxbury. April 6, 1640, lands and meadows were granted
to hina and others, at North Hill, in that town, and on the 31st of
August following, he had granted to him fifty acres of upland, and a
proportion of meadows on the Namassaeuset river. May, 1641, he
was bondsman for George Willard of Scituate, and is called of
that town.
August, 1643, he and his sons were included among those able
to bear arms in Barnstable. He probably came to Barnstable in
1639 with the first settlers, though he did not make it the place of
his permanent residence until 1642 or 3. He was a carpenter, and
a raa.ster builder ; his son John was also a carpenter, and his sons
Nicholas, Simon, and Samuel, probably assisted their father. This
fact furnishes an explanation of his frequent removals from place to
place. In the new settlements he found more employment than in the
older. It did not, however, require much time to construct the
rude dwellings of our ance.stors. In 1643 William Chase built the
house of Andrew Hallett, Jr., finding all the materials, and delivered
it "latched, thatched and daubed" for the sum of £5. Some of the
first settlers put up substantial frame houses, like that of Nathaniel
Bacon, which has been described ; but generally they were as rudely
and as cheaply constructed as Andrew Hallett, Jr's. The chimneys
were of rough stone, and above tlie mantel piece, which was always
of wood, they were often only cob-walls, that is 'built with small
sticks and clay. The roofs were thatched, and oiled paper was
often a substitute for glass. They were not plastered — the cracks
were "daubed," that is filled up with clay or mortar. The hardware
and nails required, were furnished by the blacksmith. Saw mills
had been built at Scituate, and the lumber for the best houses came
from that town ; but at first the boards required were sawed by hand,
or hewn from split logs.
Houses of this description, having only one large room on the
lower floor, whether one or one-half stories high, were quickly and
cheaply built.
Neither Dolar Davis or his sons were anfibitious of political
distinction. In 1642 he was on the jury of trials, in 1645 a grand
juror ; but was excused from serving on account of sickness, in
1652 surveyor of highways, and in 1654 constable.
In 1655 he removed to Concord, Massachusetts. He was one
of the original proprietors of Groton, and he and Mr. Thomas
Hinckley of Barnstable, were of the first Board of Selectmen
appointed by the Legislature May 28, 1655, and to hold office two
years. The Selectmen managed the prudential affairs of the town,
laid out the lands • into lots, and disposed of them to the first
settlers.
In 1656, Dolar Davis was a resident at Concord, and in receipt
dated April 9, of that year, calls himself of that town. In a deed
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. ^91
executed in that town July 17, 1658, describes himself as a house
carpenter late of Barnstable. Feb. IG, 1667-8, he had returned to
Barnstable, where he died June 1673, aged about 80 years.
Dolar Davis' house lot was the most northerly on the east side of
the ancient Mill Way. discontinued in 1669. In his deed to Abra-
ham Blush, dated July 17, 1658, he says, "all my house lott of
lands lying by a place commonly called Old Mill Or'eek," containing
two acres, and was bounded northerly by his own meadow in the Mill
Pond, easterly partly upon Mr. Dimmock marsh, and partly upon
his own land ; southerly, partly on the common, and partly by
Goodman Huckins, and westerly, partly on Goodman Huckics and
partly by Nicholas Davis. His house stood not far from the water
mill built by the first settlers on the spot where the present mill
stands.
He also owned three lots of land at Stony Cove, containing
twelve acres, ten acres of meadow on the north ot his house lot, and
on the opposite side of Mill Creek, twelve acres in the old common-
field, and a lot of four acres adjoining his houselot on the south-east,
bounded westerly partly upon the common, and partly by his own
land, easterly by Nicholas Davis, northerly by Mr. Dimmock's
marsh, and southerly by Goodman Foxwell's land.
The above described lands and meadow he sold to Abraham
Blush, by deed dated 17th July, 1658. The common land named in
the above description, consisted of two acres of swamp, a little dis-
tance north-west of the Agricultural Hall, afterwards granted to
John Davie, and by him sold to Abraham Blush.
Dolar Davis' great lot of sixty acres, "butted easterly upon the
Indian Pond, westerly into the commons, bounded southerly by John
Crocker, northerly by Henry Brown." This he sold to Mr. Thomas
Allen, who re-sold .the same 22d Feb. 1665, to Roger Goodspeed.
The causeway across Mill Creek to the Common Field, which
was then, and now is, the mill dam. Mill Creek is frequently
named in the description of the lands and meadows in the vicinity ;
but the owners of the Mill are not named in the earliest records now
.extant. Nicholas Davis owned the land adjoining the spot on
which the Mill .stood. No description of his lands except the grant
made to him by the Indifin Sachem at Hyannis, is found on the town
records. After his death his lands were set off to his creditors, and
no particular description is given. John Bacon, Esq., was an early
owner in the mill, and was part owner of the landing or dock on
the west side of the mill formerly owned by Nicholas Davis, and
yet the property of the Bacons. Dolar Davis sold his farm, includ-
ing his dwelling-house arid meadows, for £75. Nicholas Davis' real
estate, not ini;luding the twelve acres sold to John Bacon, or the
Caleb Lumbert farm which was set off to his widow as her portion,
was apprised at £180. He did not own sO'Tnany acres as his father,
and it is evident that the superior value of his property consisted in
292i GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
the buildings and improvements thereon. He had a warehouse at
Hyaunis, the first building erected by the English at South Sea, and
a warehouse on his lot at Mill Creek.. The latter contained not
more than two acres, and on this there was, sixty years ago, a large
and valuable frame dwelling-house, built in the style of the first
comers. In absence of all evidence to the contrary, the presumption
is that this* ancient house and the Mill, were originally the property
of Nicholas Davis.
Perhaps among all the families which came to New England,
not one can be selected more deserving. of our esteem and uuquaiified
approbation than that of Dolar Davis. As a man, he was honest,
industrious, and prudent ; as a Christian, tolerant and exact in the
performance cf his leligious duties; as a neighbor, kind, obliging,
and ever ready to help those who needed his assistance, and as a father
and the head of his family, he was constantly solictious for the
welfare of all its members^ cultivating tho.se kindly feelings and
amenities of life, which render home delightful. His sons and his
grand-sons followed in his footsteps. They were men whose charac-
ters stand unblemished. It is pleasant to read their wills on record,
and note the affection with which they speak .of the members of
their families, and their desire to provide not only for their immediate
wants, but for the future prospective misfortunes or necessities of
any of their kindred. The latter remark, however, will apply more
particulaily to Samuel, of whom a more particular account will
be given.
The family of Dolar Davis is for convenience of" reference
arranged in a regular genealogical series, in order to distinguish
between members of this tamily, and that of Robert of the same
Christian name. I call Nicholas a son of Dolar. If I am asked to
point to the record of the fact I cannot. Many circumstances show
that they were near relatives. The fact that Nicholas was a favorite
name among the descendants of Dolar who joined the Quakers, that
the house lots of Dolar and Nicholas were parts of the same orij^inal
lot, and other circumstances, have induced me to call Nicholas the
son of Dolar.
1. I. Dolar Davis, carpenter, married first Margery Willard',
daughter of Richard Willard of Horsmonden, County of Kent,
in England. He came over in 1634:. His first wife probably
died in Concord. He married for his second wife Joanna,
widow of John Bursley, and daughter of Rev. Joseph Hall.
He died in. 1673, and names in his will dated Sept. 12, 1672,
his children, then living. Nicholas was then dead, and left no
children .
2. I. John, born in England, married Hannah Linnell 15th
March, 1648.
3. II. Nicholas, borft-in England, married Mary or Sarah.
4. HI. Simon, born in England, married Mary Blood, 12th
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 293
Dec. 1660.
5. IV. Samuel, born in England, married Mary Meads llth
Jan. 1665.
6. V. Mary, born in England, married Thomas Lewis, June
15, 1653.
7. VI. Ruth, born in Barnstable, baptized 24th March, 1644,
married, Dec. 3, 1663, Stepen Hall, son of widow Mary
of Concord. He afterwards removed to Stowe, was repre-
sentative in 1689.
John Davis was a house carpenter and was one of the three
last survivors of the first settlers. His houselot, containing eight
acres, was the first on the west of Baker's Lane,, now called
Hyannis road. The lot was originally laid out to Edward
Fitzrandolph, 'who sold the same in 1649 to John Chipman ; but
the deed was not executed till Aug. 13, 1669, and was never
recorded.* John Davis' deed of the same lot recorded in the
Barnstable town records is dated Oct. 15, 1649, and signed by
John Scudder.
Jan. 14, 1658, he sold six acres of his houselot to Samuel
Normon, bounded northerly by his little fenced field, easterly by
the Hyannis road, southerly by the woods, and westerly by the
land of Mr. Wm. Sergeant. On the 26th of February, 1665,
Norman re-conveyed this land, with his dwelling house thereon,
to John Davis ; but the land yet retains the name of Norman's
Hill. He also owned thirteen acres on the east side of the Hyan-
nis road, bounded northerly "upon Mrs. Hallet's set of," easterly
by Mrs. Hallett, westerly by the Hyannis road ; and an addition
of five acres on the south, extending on both sides of the Hyannis
road. He also owned three acres in the old, and two acres in the
new common-field, half an acre on the north side of the County
road, opposite his house, improved as an orchard and garden, and
a quarter of an acre bought of Henry Cobb near where David
Bursley's house now stands, four acres of meadow at Sandy Neclr,
and two acres within the present dyke, bounded westerly by
Rendevous Creek.
In his will, dated May 10, 1701, proved April 9, 1703, he
bequeaths to his "eldest son John all that parcel of upland and
swamp that he now possesses and dwells on contained within his
fence on the eastward side of the highway that leads up into the
woods, estimated to be about fourteen acres, upon condition that
he shall pay £30 in money to my executors as shall be hereafter
ordered. And what he hath already paid to be deducted out of
ye said £30.
*I refer here to an original deed which I have in my possession. Another deed of the
same property dated June 1, 1649, to John Chipman was recorded that year- Why two
were p^iven of the same property is not easily explained. They are not exact copies.
Perhaps the one I have, wa.=! given to correct some error in the first.
294 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Itt— I give and bequeath to my daughter Mercy for her tender
care and labor past done for me and her mother, £20 in money,
and £5 a year so long as she continues to attend me and her
mother, or the longest liver — her diet, washing, and lodging, in
the family with her brother Benjamin; 1 cow and heifer, 2 sheep,
2 swine, and at her mother's decease, 1-2 the household stuff and
bedding forever, and the southward end of the house so long as
she shall live a single life.
Names son Samuel, to whom he gives 1 yoke of Oxen and a
great chain. Son Benjamin, to whom he gives nearly all his
estate in consideration of his taking care of him and his mother
during life.
Names sons Dollar, Timothy, Jabez, daughters Ruth Linnell,
Hannah Jones' 5 children, son John's four eldest sons, grand-
daughter Mary G=oodspeed, grand-son Joseph Davis, Daughter
Mary Hinckley. Benjamin Davis, Executor.
Signed with his mark, J. D.
Witness — Joseph Lothrop, James Cobb, Samuel S. Sergeant, (his
mark) .
Appraisers — James Lewis, Jeremiah Bacon, Edward Lewis.
Am't of Inventory 268,12,4. "
Nicholas Davis came to Barnstable with his father, and was
able to bear arms in 1643. Judge Sewall says he favored the
Quakers at their first coming, though he did not embrace their
principles till after 1657, when he took the oath of fidelity. He
was a trader, built a warehouse at South Sea, the first building
erected by the English in that part of the town. His accounts
show that he dealt more with the Indians than was for his profit,
and that the gift of land to him by the Sachem Hianna, was not
in the end a good bargain.
June 1656, he was in the court at Plymouth when the Sand-
wich men were convicted and fined for refusing to take the oath of
fidelity, and was a witness of the unjust usages to which they
had been subjected by the cruelty of the under Marshal Barlow.
He was indignant and attempted to speak, saying "That he was a
witness for the Lord against their oppression," and was about to
say wherein, when he was put down, and committed to prison ;
but was soon released.
In the same month he went to Boston to settle with those
with whom he had traded, and pay some debts. He was there
arrested, sent to prison to remain till the sitting of the court of
Assistants. His fellow prisoners were William Robinson, a mer-
chant of London, and Marmaduke Stevenson of Yorkshire,
Quaker preachers, and Patience Scott of Providence, a little girl
eleven years old. He was kept in prison till Sept. 12, 16.79,
when he was liberated on the consideration if found within the
colony of Massachusetts after the 14th of that month he should
GENEALOGICAL, NOTJES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 295
suffer death. The two Quaker preachers who were confined did
not leave the Colony within the time prescribed, were again
arrested, and afterwards hung on Boston Common.
On the 6th of October following the Plymouth Colony Court
ordered the notorious Marshal Barlow "to repair to the house of
William Newland and Ralph Allen of Sandwich, and Nicholas
Davis of Barnstable, to make search in any part of their houses,
or in any of the chests or trunks of the above said, or elsewhere,
for papers or writings that were false, scandalous, and pernicious
to the government, and return such as they may find to the court."
As no retm-n appears to have been made, it is presumed no such
papers were found.
Nicholas Davis continued his business in Barnstable till 1670.
In the spring of 1672 he was a resident of Newport, where he
traded, but it does not appear that he had permanently removed
from Barnstable. He was drowned before 9th Aug. 1672. His
wife Sarah administered on his estate at Newport. Maj. John
Walley administered on his estate in Massachusetts.
It does not appear that Nicholas Davis was a member of the
Society pf Friends. His name does not appear on the records of
the Sandwich Monthly Meeting, yet he probably was a member at
the time of his removal to Rhode Island, otherwise Roger
Williams in his big book against the Quakers, would not have
boasted, that in his public conference, with the friends of George
Fox, that he made good use of the event that Nicholas Davis, one
of their leading men, was drowned.
Nicholas Davis owned a large real estate in Barnstable.
Hianna, the Sachem, gave him a tract of land on the inlet now
called Lewis' Bay. The boundaries are indefinite ; it included
the land where Timothy Baker's store now stands, and on which
he erected a warehouse. t He traded at New York, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island, and his goods were landed at Hyannis and
t To all persons to whom these presents shall coni6, know yee that I, Yanno Sachem of
a certaine tract of lands lying and being att the South See, in the presincts of Barnstable, in
the GoTemment of New Plymouth, in New England, in America, have for divers good
reasons mee moving freely and absolutely given, granted, enfeofed, and confirmed, and by
these presents do giye, graunt, enfeof, and confirm unto Nicholas Davis, of Barnstable,
aforeeaid merchant a certaine p sell of the said lands lying att the South Sea aforesaid,
commonly called by the name of Sam's Neck, bounded northerly by the lands of Barnstable
- bought of mee, the said Yanno, at the head of the river where the said Nicholas Davis hath
now erected a warehouse, and from thence extending to the head of the river, westerly
where the ludians were wont to dwell in winter, extending southerly over the mouth of the
said river to the sea, and bounded westerly partly by the said river and partly by the lands
of Barnstable, and bounded easterly by the harbor, commonly called Yanno's harbor.
The mark (Ixj ) of Yanno.
And a fseale].
Yanno Sachem above said, personally appeared before mee and acknowledged this to be
his acte and deed.
Atttest, THOMAS HINCKLEY, Assistant.
Wattanwassan, the eldest son of the said Yanno, appeared before mee and acknowl-
edged his &ee consent to this above said deed of gift.
THOMAS HINCKLEY, Assistant.
The above deed is dated October 26th, 1666, and recorded in Plymouth Colony Becords
Book of Deeds Vol. 3, Pago 61.
WM. S. RUSSELL, keeper of said record.
296 GKNEALOGIOAL NOTES OF BAKNSXABLB FAMILIES.
transported across the Cape. Oysters were at that ti-ne very
abundant and Davis bought them, put up in barrels, of the
Indians and others, and shipped them from Hyannis. In early
times the "making of Oysters," as the packing of them is called
in the will of Benjamin Bearse, was a considerable business.
Many of the Oysters packed were probably brought from the
vicinity of Oyster Island.
He also owned two acres of land on the west of his father's
land, where the late Dea. Joseph Chipman lived, including the
landing and the land around the water mill, which was then proba-
bly his property. On his land he had a dwelling house which
stood where Mr. Maraspin's now does, corresponding in size and
appearance to that built by Nathaniel Bacon which has been
described. He also had a warehouse on this lot. He had
twelve acres of land on the south-east of his father's, sold to
John Bacon, Esq., and already described. He also bought of
Caleb Lumbard the easterly part of the great lot of Thomas
Lumbard, with the house thereon. This was set off to his widow
as her dower, and was afterwards owned by the descendants of
Robert Davis.
(2-1) John Davis, son of Dolar Davis, married by Mr.
Prince, at Eastham, March 15, 1648, to Hannah, daughter of Mr.
Robert Linnell of Barnstable. He died 1703.
Children horn in Barnstable.
8. I. John, born 15th Jan. 1649-50, married three wives.
9. II. Samuel, born 15th Dec. 1651, died unmarried 1711.
10. III. Hannah, married Jedediah Jones.
11. IV. Mary, born 3d Jan. 1753-4, married 1st, B. Good-
speed, 1676, 2d, John Hinckley, Nov. 24, 1697.
12. V. Joseph, born June 1656, married Mary Claghorn,
March 28, 1682.
13. VI. Benjamin, born June, 1656, died unmarried 1718.
14. VII. Simon, born 15th July, 1658, died young, no issue
probably.
15. VIII. bolar, born 1st Oct. 1660, married 3d Aug. 1681,
Hannah Linnell.
16. IX. Jabez, married Experience Linnell, 20th Aug. 1689.
17. X. Mercy, unmarried 1718.
18. XI. Timothy, married Sarah Perry 1690.
19. XII. Ruth, born 1674, married John Linnell 1695.
(3-2) Nicholas Davis of Barnstable, probably son of Dolar
Davis, married, June 1661, Mary or Sarah. There is no record
of his family on the Barnstable town records. He was drowned
at Newport before Aug. 9, 1672.
Children born in Barnstable.
20. I. A child Feb. 1661-2.
21. II. Simon, 1656, drowned Feb. 13, 1657-8.
22.
I.
23.
II.
24.
III.
25.
IV.
26.
V.
27.
VI.
28.
VII
GENEALOGIOAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.' 297
(4-3) Simon Davis .of Concord, son of Dolar Davis, married
12th Dec. 1660, Mary, daughter of James Blood.
Simon, born 12th Oct. 1661.
Mary, born 3d Oct. 1663.
Sarah, born 15th March, 1666.
James, born 19th June, 1668.
Ellen, born 22d Oct. 1672.
Ebenezer, 1676.
. Hannah, born 1st April 1679.
(5-4) Samuel Davis of Concord, son of Dolar Davis, married,
11th Jan. 1665, Mary Meads (or Meddows.)
29. I. Mary, born Sept. 27, 1666.
.30. II. Samuel, born 21st June 1669.
31. III. Daniel, born 16th March 1673.
32. IV. EUza.
33. V. Stephen.
34. VI. Simon, born 9th Aug. 1683.
(6-5) Thomas Lewis, son of George, married Mary Davis
15th June 1653, and had James March 1654; Thomas, 15th July
1656 ; Mary, 2d Nov. 1659 ; Samuel, 14th May 1662. Thomas
Lewis was probably the first' town clerk of Falmouth, but I am
not certain. ' '
(3-1) John Davis, Jr., son of John, and grandson of Dolar,
married Ruth Goodspeed 2d Feb. 1674. She died . 2d,
married Mary Hamlin 22d Feb. 1692, she died Nov. 1698. 3d,
married Widow Hannah Bacon 1699, widow of Nathaniel. ■
35. I. John, last of Nov. 1675, died middle August 1681.
36. II. Benjamin, 8th Sept. 1679.
37. III. John, 17th March 1684.
38. IV. Nathaniel, 17th July 1686.
39. V. Jabez, baptized 10th May 1691, married Patience
Crocker, 1727.
40. VI. Shobal, born, 10th July 1694.
41. VII. James, 24th March 1696.
42. VIII. Ebenezer, 13th May 1697.
43. IX. Nicholas, 12th March 1699.
44. X. Jedediah, 5th June 1700.
45. XI. Desire, born May 1705.
46. XII. Noah, 7th Sept. 1707.
John Davisi Jr., was a house carpenter. Feb. 21, 1677-8,
the town granted to him "liberty to set up a shop on a knowl of
ground over against his house adjoining to his father's fence on
the other side of the highway.'' In August, 1683, the neighbors
wanted a watering place in the swamp on the south side of his
house, and the town agreed to give him five acres of land at the
head of Samuel Sergeant and Isaac Chapman's lots. That now
within fence, was afterwards re-sold by the town to Ebenezer
Lewis.
298 ■ GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABL15 FAMILIES.
His father gave him the fourteen acres of land he owned on
the east of the Hyannis road on which he built a house. He
removed to Falmouth about the year 1710, and died in 1729, aged
80, leaving an estate appraised at £1,810. He names his ten sons
and two daughters, and his wife's daughter, Elizabeth Bacon, in
his will, which is similar to that of his brothei* Samuel's. He
orders a fund of £500 to pay legacies, &c.
(9-2) Samuel Davis, son of John Davis, resided in Barn-
stable. He did not marry. He died in 1711, leaving a large
estate for those times. He owned all the land on the south side
of the road, between the lot which was his father's, and the lane
next west of the Barnstable R. R. Depot. Dec. 21, 1696, he
sold lands in Rochester, to Samuel Chipman, for £35. His will
on record is dated 25th June, 1711, and was proved on the 4th of
January following. It is one of those wills that please gene-
alogists. He says : "I freely give unto my brother Benjamin
Davis, during his natural life, the use and improvement of all the
uplands and meadows I bought of Isaac Chapman and Samuel
Sargeant here lying together^butting against the land of Ebene-
zer Lewis on Potter's Neck, and so up into the ■ woods to the head
thereof and also, in like manner, to have my woodlot lying above
the head thereof, and at the decease of my brother Benjamin,
then my will is that Samuel Davis, son of my brother Jatoez
Davis, deceased, shall have all the forementioned lands, meadows,
and woodlot, to him, his heirs and assigns, forever, he or they
paying three hundred pounds for the same, (excepting five pounds
of said sum to himself) and to have seven years time to pay out
the same, after said lands come into his hands."
He further provides, that if Samuel should die or refuse to take
the same, then Simon, son of his brother Joseph, to take the
same, on the same conditions, and if he refuse, then the next in
kin of the "Davises" to have the same offer, and the £295 to be
divided as follows :
To my sister Mary Davis, £40
Solomon, son of Jabez Davis, 5
Brother Jabez Davis' 3 daughters, 3
Sister Ruth Linnell, 5
" " " children, 7
Br. Joseph Davis' 3 sons 5 each, 15
" " " daughter Mary, 5
" Dolar Davis' son Shubael, 5
" " " daughter Hannah, 5
" " " Thankful and Mary, 2
Sister Mary, Hinckley, 10
" " " daughter Mary, 1
" Hannah Jones' children £1 each, 7
Br. John Davis' 10 sous £4 each, 40
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 299
To Br. John Davis' 2 daughters, £1, £ 2
" " Timothy Davis, 20
" " " " " son Nicholas, 5
" " " " daughter, ' 5
£182
To his brother Benjamin Davis he gave ten acres of land in the
common field bought of Samuel Sargent, and other property, and
to his sister Mercy Davis nearly all his moveable estate.
He also ordered a part of the income of his estate to be kept
in bank, and to be distributed to such of his relations of the
Davis' as may fall under decay, and be in want either by sickness
or lameness or other accident — proportioned according to their
several necessities — until all is distributed.
He appointed Benjamin Davis his executor. He died in 1718
and Samuel assumed the trust, and though the estate was
appraised at £481,17,10, it proved insufficient to pay the legacies
in full. Samuel, before making a final settlement, remaved ■ to
to Connecticut. Some of the receipts call him of Groton, others
of New London, and others of Coventry.
(10-3) Hannah, daughter of John Davis, married Jedediah
Jones 18th March, 1681, and resided at Scorton, just within the
bounds of Barnstable. In the town records only Shubael, Simon, "
Isaac, Timothy and Hannah, are named born previous to 1695.
(11-4) Mary, daughter of John Davis, married in 1677,
Benjamin Goodspeed, and had Mary Jan 10, 1677-8, who married
•Ichabod Hinckley, and receipted for his wife's legacy. Nov. 24,
1697, she married Ensign John Hinckley of West Barnstable. By
her last husband she had no children.
(12-5) Joseph, son of John Davis, married, March 28, 1682,
Mary Claghorn, daughter of James. He resided at Chequaquet,
and died about 1690. She died 1706.
Children horn in Barnstable.
47. I. Simeon 19th Jan. 1683.
48. II. Marv, 19th June 1685.
49. III. Joseph, April, 1687.
60. IV. Robert, 13th June 1689.
James Cahoon, illegitimate son born Oct. 25, 1696.
(13-6) Benjamin, son of John Davis, died unmarried in 1718,
and his estate was divided among his brothers and sisters and their
representatives then living: 1, to John Davis, (Samuel died in
1711) ; 2, to heirs of Hannah Jones, deceased; 3, to heirs of
Mary Hinckley, deceased ; 4, to heirs of Joseph Davis, deceased,
(Benjamin and Simon deceased) ; 5, to heirs of Dolar Davis ;
6, to heirs of Jabez Davis ; 7, to Mary Davis; 8, to Timothy
Davis ; and 9, to Ruth Linnell. Of the family of John Davis
four were living in 1718, three had died leaving no issue, and five
300 GENEALOGICAL NQT^IS QF B/^KjSTSTAHLE FAMILIES.
who had families. He had lands at Catacheset, Oyster Island,
Cotuit, Cooper's Pond, and at the Common Field. . He owned the
dwelling-house which was his father's.
(14-7) Dolar, son of John Davis, removed early to South Sea.
His farm was at Skoneonet. He married, 3d Aug. 1681, Hannah,
daughter of David Linnell. He was a house carpenter and joiner.
He died in 1710, and names in his will, sons Shubael, Stephen,
Daniel, Job, and Noah, and daughters Hannah, Thankful, Remem-
ber Mercy. He gave one half of his joiners tools to Stephen,
and the othef half and all his carpenters tools, to Job. He had
two swords, which indicates that he had seen service as a soldier.
The best he gave to j'ob, and the other to Noah. His wife is not
named; and was probably dead.
Children horn in Barnstable.
51. I. Shubael, 23d April, 1685, married twice.
52. II. Thomas, Aug. 1686 died young.
53. Ill, Hannah, Dec. 1689.
54. IV. Stephen, Sept. 1690.
55. V. Thankful, March 1696.
56. VI. Daniel, July 1698.
57. VII. Job, July 1700.
58. VIII. Noah, Sept. 1702.
59. IX. Remember Mercy, 16th Oct. 1704.
(16-9) Jabez, son of John Davis, was a carpenter,, and
resided in Barnstable. In his will dated 29th Sept. 1710, he
named all his children excepting Reuben and Ebenezer, who-
probably died young. He orders his sons Isaac and Jacob to be
put to some trades as soon as they are capable. Inventory
£538,16,08.
Jabez Davis married, 20th Aug. 1689, Experience, daughter
of David Linnel, of Barnstable. He died 1710, and his widow
married, JFeb. 13, 1711-12, Benjamin Hatch, of Falmouth.. She
died a widow Dec 1736.
Children horn in Barnstable.
60. I. Nathan, 2d March 1690, (town and church records.)
61. II. Reuben, (church records.)
62. III. 'Samuel, 25th Sept. 1692. Removed to Connecticut.
63. IV. Bathsheba, 16th Jan. 1694.
64. V. Isaac, 23d April, 1.696, died in 1718.
65. VI. Abigail, 26th April, 1698, married Sept. 1718, Joseph
Hamblin.
66. VII. Jacob, Oct. 169§.
67. VIII. Mercy, 6th Feb. 1701.
68. IX. Ebenezer, bap 23d June, 1706.
69. X. Solomon, 4th Sept. 1706.
70.
I.
71.
II.
72.
III.
73.
IV.
74.
V.
75.
VI.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 301
(17-10) Mercy, daughter of John Davis, was an old maid,
. gentle, kind, affectionate, nurse and physician to her father and
mother, her brothers and sisters, and the host who called her aunt.
She died in 1733, aged about 70, and bequeathed her whole estate
to her sister Ruth Linnell, to children of her brother John, and to
her nephew Simon Davis.
(18-11) Timothy, son of John Davis, joined the society of
Friends and removed to Rochester, and is the ancestor of the
Davis's in New Bedford and Rochester. Until the discovery of
Samuel Davis' Will they were' unable to trace their descent from
Dolar. They knew they were distantly related to the Davis's in
Falmouth, descendants of John Jr., and that Nicholas, the early
Quaker, was a connection, but the degree of consanguinity was
unknown.
Timothy Davis married 7th of , 1st month, 1690, Sarah,
daughter of Edward Perry, of Sandwich. His oldest son was
born in Sandwich, his other children probably in Rochester.
Nicholas, Oct. 28, 1690.
Hannah, Sept. 17, 1692.
. Sarah, March 18, 1693-6.
Rest, Sept. 17, 1700.
Peace, April 14, 1702.
Dorcas, Sept. 10, 1704.
These dates are from the records of the Sandwich monthly
meeting, and first month was then March.
(19-12) Ruth, daughter of John Davis, married, in 1695,
John Linnel, one of the first who removed to South Sea. His
house was at Hyannis Port, and was taken down a few years ago.
She had seven children ; making the whole number of the grand
children of John Davis, Senior, 56. She died May 8, 1748, in
the 75th year of her age, and is buried in the ancient grave yard
at Barnstable.
[The Concord and Falmouth branches are here dropt.J
(47-1) Capt. Simon Davis, son of Joseph, born 19th Jan.
1683-4, was an officer in the militia, and a man of some note. At
41 he married. May 12, 1725, Elizabeth Lumbert, who died leav-
ing no issue. At 56 he married Priscilla Hamblin, (June 5, 1740.)
By her he had Mary, Feb. 28, 1741-2 ; Content, March 23, 1743-4 ;
Priscilla, Feb. 17, 1745-6, and Joseph baptized July 17, 1748.
She died April 1751, aged 41.
(50-4) Robert, son of Joseph Davis, probably removed to
Rochester, where he had by Mary, Joseph, April 8, 1727;
Benjamin, Feb. 22, 1728-9 ; Benajah, June 27, 1734.
(51-1) Shubael Davis, son of Dolar, married, Sept. 15, 1720,
Hopestill Lumbert, and 2nd, Patience Crocker 1727.
(54-4) Stephen Davis, son of Dolar, married Desire Lewis
March 12, 1730. He died very suddenly Dec. 7, 1756. He had
Mary and Martha, twins, born April 23, 1732 ; Jonathan baptized
302 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
June 8, 1740 ; and Stephen born July 6, 1746. Mary married
Benjamin Lumbert, Jr., May 23, 1751 ; Martha, Joseph Lewis,
Esq.
(56-6) Daniel Davis, son of Dolar, married Mary Lothrop.
Children born in Barnstable : Daniel, April 1, 1724 ; Samuel, May
8, 1727; Joseph, May 28, 1729, died June 30, same year;
Jonathan, Sept. 21, 1733. Mrs. Mary Davis was dismissed Sept.
26, 1742, from the Barnstable church to the church in Lebanon,
Conn.
(57-7) Job Davis, son of Dolar, married, Dec. 22, 1724,
Mary Phinney. He inherited the estate of his ancestor John.
He died April 4, 1751, aged 50, and his widow died at the great
age of 98 years. Their children were: 1, Mary, June 21, 1725,
died young; 2, Thomas, Oct. 16, 1726, deaf and dumb, was a
weaver, died unmarried; 3, Shubael, March 19, 1729, married
Thankful Lewis, Jr., April 30, 1852; 4, Mary, July 18, 1731,
married Thomas Young Feb. 1759-60 : 5, Mehitabel, March 9,
1733-4, married 1st Gershom Cobb Feb. 6, 1761-2, and 2d,
Nathaniel Lothrop,' 1776 ; 6, Seth, Dec. 27, 1736; 7, Hannah,
Sept. 6, 1739, married David Childs April 4, 1758, and through
her the ancient Davis estate passed into the Child family ; 8,
Ebenezer, Dec. 17, 1742, deaf and dumb, a shoe maker. He
removed to Maine.
(58-8) Noah Davis, son of Dolar, married. May 7, 1724,
Hannah Fuller, and had Lewis, Aug. 26, 1724; Thankful, March
9, 1728; Eunice, April 20, 1734; John, baptized July 4, 1742;
Joseph, Oct. 21, 1746. Eunice married Jabez Claghorn Nov. 21,
1759.
(60-1) Nathan Davis, son of Jabez, was a wheelwright, he
married, 24th Nov. 1714, Elizabeth Phinney, and had Jabez 7th
Oct. 1715; Sarah, 12th Aug. 1717; Elizabeth, 15th Sept. 1718;
Isaac, 9th June 1720. He administered on his brother Isaac's
estate in 1710.
Solomon, sou of Jabez Davis, married Mehitabel Stertevat of
Sandwich, and removed to that town. .
(70-1) Nicholas Davis, son of Timothy, belonged to the
Society of Friends and resided at Rochester. He was a Quaker
preacher, and spent most of his time in Rochester and Dart-
mouth. He however travelled extensively, visiting North Caro-
lina, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New
York. On his return from a journey from New York he
was taken sick of a fever and died at the house of William Russell
in Oblong, 10th month, 7th Oct. 1775, (after 1752 January was the
first month) in the 65th year of his age. He married thrice.
1st, Mary, 2d, Hannah, and 3d Ruth. By his first wife he had
Nathan born 11th month, (Jan.) 28, 1715-16; Elizabeth, 11
month, 20, 1718-19. By his second wife he had no children. By
his third wife, Timothy, born 2d month (April) 9, 1730.; Nicholas,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 303
3 month, (May) 10, 1732 ; Abram, 12th month (Feb.) 20, 1735-6 ;
(Rochester records Feb. 1, 1736) Mary, 5th month (July) 3,
1742 ; James, 3d month (May) 1743. The latter was grandfather
to Wm. P. Davis of Yarmouth. Timothy of this family was a
Quaker preacher. During the Revolution he was an ardent whig,
and wrote a pamphlet in favor of prosecuting the war. For this,
he was disowned by his brethren. [It is said, on what authority
I am unable to say, that Jefferson Davis is a descendant of
Timothy.]
In early times the descendants of .Dolar Davis were very
numerous in Barnstable ; now not one remains who is a legal
voter. Many families of the name removed ; but not so many as
of some other names. Many of the families have dwindled and
died out.
The Davis families in Truro are descendants of Benjamin
Davis, born about the year 1730. He married Betsey Webb. He
had Benjamin who removed first to Chatham and thence to Reed-
fleld, Maine ; James W. ; Ebenezer L. ; and Betsey who married
Solomon Mirick, of Brewster. His son Ebenezer L. married
Azubah Hinckley, and had, Dianah, Solomon, Ebenezer, Betsey,
Benjamin, Azubah, and Joshua H., most of whom are now living.
James W. has also descendants now living.
DELAR
JAMES DELAP.
' In 1688, when William and Mary ascended the throne of
England, manufacturing industry had given wealth and prosperity
to Ireland. In the first year of their reign the royal assent was
given to laws passed by both Houses of Parliament, to discourage
the manufactures of Ireland which competed with those of Eng-
land. Lord Fitzwilliam says that by this inviduous policy 100,000
operatives were driven out of Ireland. Many of the Protestants
to Germany, some of the Catholics to Spain, and multitudes of
all classes to America. Dobbe, on Irish trade, printed in Dublin .
in 1729, estimated that 3000 males left Ulster yearly for the
colonies.
The tolerant policy of William Penn, induced many to settle
in Pennsylvania. The arrivals at the port of Philadelphia, of Irish
emigrants, for the year ending December 1729, was 5,655. The
satiriol Dean Swift reproached the aristocracy for their suicidal
impolicy "in cultivating cattle and banishing men."
The Irish emigrants who came over at the close of the 1 7tb
and the beginning of the 18th centuries, were a very different
class from those who now throng to our shores. Very few could
claim a purely Celtic ancestry. Those from the north of Ireland
were descendants of Scots who had settled there and were known
as Scotch Irish. Many were descendants of English parents, and
of the Huguenots who found an asylum in Ireland after the
Eevocation of the Edict of Nantz. A large proportion of them
were tradesmen, artisans, and manufacturers. Many settled in
the Southern States. Londonderry, in New Hampshire, -was
settled by the Scotch Irish, and several towns in Maine. Many
settled in various towns in New England, and not a few of the
most noted men in our country trace their descent from these
Irish refugees. Among these are some families of the name of
Allison, Butler, Cathern, Carroll, Clinton, Fulton, Jackson, Knox,
McDonouah, Ramesy, Read, Sullivan, Walsh, Wayne, and many
others distinguished in the annals of our country. Of the fiftv-
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 305
six who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine were Irish,
or of Irish origin.
The influence of this class of imigrants has not been suffi-
ciently appreciated. The acts of the British Parliament which
brought ruin to Ireland, gave prosperity to America. Wherever
the Irish refugees settled, there mechanical and manufacturing
industry was developed, giving a diversity of employment to the
people, adding to their wealth, and making them prosperous and
less dependent on the mother country. The introduction of steam
power, the construction of canals and many great public enter-
prises, originate'd with, or were promoted, and brought to a suc-
cessful issue, by the descendants of these settlers. In the
Revolutionary army many of the most efficient officers were Irish,
or sons of Irishmen. In civil life many were eminent. Gov.
James Sullivan of Mass., w.sis the son' of a Limerick school
master, who with other Irish families settled in Belfast, Maine, in
1723. Gen. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States,
was the son of an Irish refugee.
Among them were men. distinguished in literature, George
Berkluy, Dean of Derry, came in 1729. His "Theory of Vision"
has made his name familiar in Europe. His object was to estab-
lish a college for the conversion of the red race. He settled at
Newport where he had a farm of ninety acres. Failing in his
purposes in 1732, he gave his farm and the finest collection of
books which had then come over at one time, to Yale College. In
Newport his "Minute Phylosopher" was composed, and the follow-
ing beautiful lines so poetical in conception, and known to -every
school boy to "this day :
"Westward the Star of Empire takes its way,
Tlie tliree first acts already past;
The fourth shall close it with the closing day,
Earth's noblest Empire is the last."
Among the first settlers in this County several Irish names
occur. Higgins is a Longford name. The Kelley's descended
from the O'Kelley's, a noted clan resident near Dublin. In latter
fimes, several of the Scotch-Irish settled in Barnstable, namely :
William Belford, James Delap, John Cullio, John Easterbrooks,
and Matthew Wood.
Charles Clinton, the ancestor of the Clintons in New York,
was born in Longford, Ireland, in the year 1690. His, grand-
father William was an adherent of Charles T, and took refuge in
the north of Ireland. His father James married Elizabeth Smith,
a daughter of one of the Captains in Cromwell's army. He was
a man of wealth and influence, and induced many of his friends
and neighbors to emigrate with him to America. He chartered
the ship George and Ann, Capt. Ryper, to transport them and
their effects from Dublin to Philadelphia. The whole number of
passengers, including men, women, and children, was one hundred
306 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
and fourteen. Among the papers of Mr. Charles Clinton is a
document showing that he paid the passage money for ninety-
four.
Mr. Clinton was unfortunate in his selection of a ship ;
but more unfortunate in his selection of a captain. Rymer
was a cold blooded tyrant, of whom his officers and sailors
were in constant fear, and as base a villian as ever trod the deck
of a slave-ship. The George and Ann sailed on the 20th of May,
1729, from the port of Dublin for Philadelphia, poorly supplied
with stores for a voyage of the ordinary length, but protracted by
the infamy of the master to one hundred and ttiirty-five days.
The passengers were not isolated individuals who had casually met
on ship-board, they consisted of families who had converted
their estates, excepting such portion as they could con-
veniently take with them, into gold, to purchase lands in
Pennsylvania, and build a town where they could enjoy the
civil apd religious privileges denied to them in their native
land. They had selected the mild season of the year for their
passage, and expected to arrive in Philadelphia in July, in season
to select their place of residence, and put up dwellings before
winter. Such were their anticipations. They did not dream that
half of their number would find watery graves before reaching
the shores of America.
Among the passengers in this ill-fated ship were the father
and mother of James Delap, and his sisters Rose, Jean, and
Sarah. Tradition says there was another child whose name is not
preserved. The Delap family were from Cavan, a county
adjoining Longford, the former home of nearly all the other
passengers. There were two on board whom Capt. Delap in his
narrative, calls "Methodists."*
Several besides Mr. Clinton had considerable sums in gold
and silver coins. This was known to the captain, and excited his
cupidity, and he resolved to prolong the voyage, and to keep his
ship at sea until his provisions were exhausted, and his passengers
had died of famine and disease, and then seize and appropriate
their goods to his own use. Such was the diabolical plan of Capt.
Rymer.
The ship had not long been at sea before the passengers
began to mistrust that the captain had evil designs. He was
tyrannical in the exercise of his authority, and his officers and
men were in constant fear of him. The ship was making slow
progress towards her port of . destination, the passengers had been
put on short allowance, and some had already died of disease
engendered by the small quantity and bad quality of the provisions
*No Methodist preachers came oyer as early as 1729. "MethodiBt" was a nick-name
then applied to men who were very, exact in the performance of their religious duties,
whether Catholic or Protestant. The converts of the ■Wesle3''8' were called "Methodist,"
and they adopted the name, as the converts of Fox did that of Qualter.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 307
served out. Starvation and death seemed inevitable if no change
could be effected, and the passengers, after consultation, resolved
to assume the command if a change could not' otherwise be made.
The two called "Methodists," having some knowledge of the
theory and practice of invigation, were appointed to watch night
and day all the movements of Capt. Rymer. One night soon
afterwards, they discovered that though the wind was fair, the
ship was sailing in an opposite direction from her true course.
They inquired of the helmsman why he so steered ; his reply was, :
"that is the captain's order."
This fact was communicated to the other passengers. Several
had then died of starvation, and many had become so weak and
emaciated by want of food and nourishment that they could
scarcely stand. Though weak and feeble they- resolved to make
an effort to compel the captain to keep his ship on her true course,
both by night as well as by day. One of the passengers had a
brace of pistols. These Xvere loaded and put into the hands of
the "Methodists," and all the passengers who had sufficient
strength remaining followed them to the quarter deck.-f" With the
loaded pistols in their hands they charged the captain with
treachery, with protracting the voyage, with the design of keep-
ing the ship at sea till all the passengers had perished of disease
or famine, and then seize on their goods. He said in reply that
the voyage had been prolonged by ■ head winds, and not by any
fault or connivance of himself or his offcers. They then charged
him with having kept his ship off her course in the night, thus
deceiving the passengers, who were mostly landsmen, and unable
in dark weather to judge whether or not the ship was on her true
course ; with issuing fuller rations to his crew than to the passen-
ers that he might be able to navigate his ship. Seeing the resolute
and determined manner of the passengers, he made fair promises ;
but he made them only that he might break them. J
The Capes of Virginia was the first land made, but no date is
given, from whence, according to the pretence of the captain, he
was driven by stress of weather to Cape Cod, making the land on
the 4th of October 1729.
This was only pretence,- and though his surviving passengers
earnestly persuaded him to land them, according to contract, at
Philadelphia, or at New York, or at any port he could make, he
refused to accede to their requests, and obstinately kept his vessel
at sea, though his passengers were daily perishing for want of
t Another account says this occurred in the cabin of the ship. Prudence required that it
should not occur in presence of the crew, and I am inclined to the opinion that the tradition
in our family is at fault in this particular.
X Wliether this uprising among the passengers was before or after land had been dis-
covered is not named in the narrative of Capt. Delap. " It probably occurred before. It is
refeiTed to in several notices of the voyage that I have seen.; but the date of its occurrence
is not given, nor the date of the first sight of land.
308 GENEAIXJGICAL NOTES OF BAHNSTABLE FAMILIES.
food. Every sailor knows that the gale which would drive a
vessel from the Capes of Virginia to Cape Cod, would enable a
captain of very moderate attainments to havp made a harbor either
in the Chespeake or in Delaware Bay, or to have reached the port
of New York. Like many other villains, he did not see the goal
to which his base conduct inevitably led. When off the Capes of
Virginia he had wit enough to perceive the difBculty in which he
was involved. If he listened to his passengers, and made for the
port of Philadelphia, he would have been immediately ari-ested on
his arrival, and his only alternative was to keep his ship at sea,
avoid speaking any vessel, and persist in his diabolical purpose.
The New England Weekly Journal, printed at Boston Nov.
10, 1729, contains the following notice of the arrival of the
George and Ann :
"We hear from Martha's Vineyard that some time last month
Capt. Lothrop, in his passage from this place (Boston) to that
island, off of Monomoy espied a vessel which put out a signal of
distress to them. He making up to her went aboard ; found her to
be a vessel from Ireland, bound for Philadelphia, (as they said)
who had been from thence 20 weeks and brought out 190 passen-
gers, 30 of whom were children, being destitute of provision,
(having then but 15 biscuit on board), 100 of them were starved
to death, among which were all the children except one, and the
remainder of the passengers looked very ghastfully. They craved
hard for water, of which one drank to that degree that he soon
after died ; and two more died while Capt. Lothrop was aboard.
Only three of the sailors were aiive (besides the master and mate)
and they sick. They entreated him to pilot them into the first
harbor they could get into, but the master was for bringing them
to Boston. They told him if he would not let the pilot carry
them into what place he should think fit, they would throw him
overboard ; upon which Capt. Lothrop having brought the vessel
off of Sandy Point, told them there was but one house near, and
spoke of going somewhere else, but they were all urgent to put
them ashore anywhere, if it were but land. Accordingly he
carried them in and left them there, with provisions ; 'tis thought
many are since dead. Notwithstanding their extremity, and the
sad spectacles of death before their eyes, and a near prospect of
their own, 'twas astonishing to behold their impenitence, and to
hear their profane speeches."
The renowned Capt. John Smith, and other early navigators,
speak of Isle Nauset, which in ancient times extended from the
entrance to Nauset harbor, south about four miles. Deep naviga-
ble waters now occupy its location. The loose sands of which
it was composed have been carried southward by the currents, or
blown inward, covering up the meadows, which for many years
have been seen croping out on the eastern side of the beach, which
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTAIiLE FAJIILIB!<;. 309
has passed entirely over them, and united with Pochet islands.
The harbor between the latter and Nauset Itle is now entirely filled
up. Since 1729 Monomoy Point, in Chatham, has extended south
several miles. The point which Capt. Lothrop calls Sandy, was
then about four miles north of Monomoy Point. A vessel then
entering Chatham harbor could sail eight miles in a northerly
direction within the islands up to the present town of Eastham".
It is certain that Capt. Rymer landed his passengers at Nauset,
and in that part of the territory, now called Orleans.
When Captain Lothrop boarded the George and Ann, Mono-
moy Point was the nearest land ; a barren, desolate region, where
neither shelter nor provisions could be procured. The point which
, he called Sandy point was on the north of the entrance to Chat-
ham, probably then separated by a channel from Isle Nauset.
This was also a barren, desolate region, with only one house.
The settlement at Chatham was the nearest, but at that time there
were only a few inhabitants scattered over a large territory.
Capt. Lothrop judged it better to proceed further up the harbor to
Nauset, or Eastham, an older settlement, where an abundance of
supplies could be procured. The passengers were probably landed
near the head of Putamomacut harbor, in the easterly part of the
present town of Orleans. Tradition says they were landed on
Nauset Beach ; but it was equally as convenient to set them ashore
on the main land, and not on a desert island. J
Capt. Lothrop belonged to Barnstable, and was a very relia-
ble and accurate man. He states that the number of passengers
was 190, instead of 114. I give both statements, not knowing
which is the most accurate.
Of the one hundred and fourteen (or 190 as stated by Loth-
rop) who embarked at Dublin, less than one-half were then living
— all the rest had been committed to the watery deep. Of the
Delap family the father, Rose, Jane, Sarah, and another, had been
buried in the ocean. The mother was living when Capt. Lothrop
came on board — emaciated and very weak, in consequence of long
abstinence. "When food was distributed she took a biscuit, and
in attempting to swallow it a piece lodged in her throat, and
before relief could be obtained, expired. Her body was taken on
shore, and buried at Nauset. James, when taken from the boat,
was so weak that he could not stand, and crawled from the boat
to the beach. After landing the surviving passengers and some
of their goods, Capt. Rymer proceeded on his voyage to Phila-
J June 25, 1863. Not being able to clearly understand the statement of Capt. Lothrop,
which I received this week, I went yesterday to Nauset beach, and examined the localities,
and I feel certain that the comments made thereon are reliable and accurate. Monomoy is
now called also Sandy Point, which creates confusion. By Sandy Point Capt. Lothrop
meant the point at the north entrance of Chatham harbor, possibly he may have meant the
point at the' entrance of Potamomacut harbor; but be that as it may it does not affect the
result. Now if a vessel should arrive olf Chatham in such condition the news would be
transmitted to Boston in an hour, then it was thirty-five days before the intelligence reached
Boston.
HIO GKNEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLK FAMILIES.
delphia. After his ai-rival the sailors, relieved from the terror in
which they had been held, entered a complaint against their
Captain. He was arrested, a preliminary examination was had,
and he was sent in irons to P^nglaud for trial. The charges of
cruelty to his passengers and crew, of extortion, and of an
attempt to embezzle the goods of the passengers, were proved,
and he was condemned to be hung and quartered, and this just
sentence was duly executed in Dublin.*
Such is the short and sad narrative of the passage of James
Delap to this country. No details of Individual suffering are
given. The fact that more than one-half of all on board perished
of starvation, is a suggestive one. He was then fourteen years of
age; young, but the incidents of such a- passage would make a<
deep impression, not soon to be forgotten. So far as known, he
was the sole survivor of the family — an orphan boy, weak and
emaciated — a stranger in a strange land, without money, without
any friend or protector but "the father of the fatherless."
Little is known of his orphanage. From Eastham he came
to Barnstable, and Nov. 5, 1729, he chose John Bacon, Jr.,
saddler, for his guardian, with whom he resided during his minor-
ity, as an apprentice to learn the trade of a blacksmith. f
He had a guardian appointed early that he might, as stated in
the record, have an agent who had legal authority to secure the
small "estate of his Honored father, deceased." A small portion
was recovered, and on the 26th of the following January apprised'
at £16, 4s by Geo. Lewis, James Cobb, and John Scudder, Jr.
The "Goods and Chatties" saved consisted of articles of men and
women's apparel, bedding, table linen, woolen yarns, and a gun.
Capt. Delap always spoke kindly of his "Master Bacon."
He was treated as a member of the family. The children
regarded him as a brother, and for three successive generations
the relation between the families was most intimate.
* Respecting the Toj'agc and its lermination, there are some discrepencies. Iloosack.
in his life of Clinton, says tlie ship sailed from Dublin in May, 1729, and after a voyage of 21
weeks and 3 days arrived at Cape Cod, in the fall, where Mr. Clinton and his surviving
friends remained till the following spring, when they took passage for New Winsor, Orange
Co., New York. As the ship had been insured in Dublin the captain contrived to let her
slip her moorings on a stormy night, in which she was lost. The^accouat in Hoosack says
that the captain kept his passengers at sea until he extorted a sum of money from them to
land them; that Clinton wanted. the officers oi the ship to seize the Captain and ship but
they refused.
Eager, in his history of Orange County, N. Y., says the Captain was seized, put in irons
by the passengers, and the command given to the mate, who brought the vessel in, in a
few days.
Among the passengers were three of the name of Armstrong, all of whom died on the
passage, Charles Clinton and wife, Alexander Dennison, and John Young, who survived.
[For the information in this note, I am indebted to E. B. O'Callagan, Esq., of Albany. I
am also indebted to Hon. .John G. Palfrey, and Rev. Henry M. Dexter, of Boston, and J. R.
Bordhead, Esq., author of the history of New York, for assistance in compiling this
article.]
t John Bacon, -Jr., was the father of the late Capt. Isaac Bacon, Sen'r, and own^d the
house in which the latter lived, a large two story gambrel roofed honse, that stood next east
of the ancient Bacon mansion. .John Bacon, Jr., is called a saddler, lie was also a black-
smith and a sailor. His blacksmith's shop stood on the west of his house, near the row of
ancient cherry trees, and there James learned his trade.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAilNSTABLP: FAMILIES. 311
After completing the term of his apprenticeship, he bought
the estate of Jeremiah Bacon, Jr., bounded south by the county
road, the present lane to the Common Field is on the west of his
land, north by Mill Creek, and east by a small run of water, con-
taining three and one-half acres, with the two story single house
thereon. His shop stood on the road, east of the irun of water.
The hill on the east of his shop is yet known as Delap's Hill.
In the summer season he sailed in the Barnstable and Boston
packet, at first, with Capt. Solomon Otis, and afterwards as '
master. In the winter he was employed in his blacksmith's
shop.
June 22, 1738, he was married by Rev. Mr. Green, to Mary,
daughter of Benjamin O'Kelley, of Yarmouth. She was born
April 8, 1720, O. S., and at the tirne of her marriage had been
residing in the family of Deacon Isaac Hamblin of Yarmouth.
Though only 18, she was a member of the Church in Yarmouth,,
and was all her life a woman of exemplary piety. Her mother,
Mary, was a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Walker) Lumbert,
born in Barnstable 17th June, 1688. She was a widow many
years, and resided with her daughter, was a mid-wife, a vocation
which a century ago was a very common and very useful employ-
ment for females. She was experienced, and stood high in her
profession. When more than four score years, when on her way
to visit a patient, her horse stumbled, and she fell and broke her
leg ; but after being confined to her room some months she .
recovered, and resumed her useful labors for a short time. She
died, according to t^e church records. May 1, 1772, aged 82 years
— nearly 84 years of age, if her birth is accurately recorded.
Capt. James Delap removed from Barnstable to Granville,
Nova Scotia, in the spring of the year 1775, and resided on a farm
which he , inherited from his son Thomas, who died young. All
his family removed with him excepting his daughters Rose and
Catherine. His health began to fail before he removed from
Barnstable, and he died in Granville in 1789, of apoplexy, aged
about 74.
He is spoken of as a "very friendly, civil man, hospitable to
strangers, kind to all, and very liberal in his efforts to educate his
children." His letters to his children indicate that he was. a
very affectionate parent, and took a lively interest in their welfare.
"In person he was short, thick set, stout built, with a short neck,
a form which physiologists say predisposes to apoplexy of which
he had three shocks, two before he removed from Barnstable. In
politics, he was a staunch loyalist, a fact that seems inconsistent
with the history of his family. Though his widow was sixty -nine
years of age at his death, she married John Hall, Esq., of Gran-
ville, whom she survived. She died June 4, 1804, aged 84 years.
She was an exemplary and consistent Christian ; an active ener-
getic woman ; and an excellent wife and mother.
312 GKNEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
Capt. James Delap had ten children all born in Barnstable,
all lived to mature age, and all excepting Thomas married and
had families. The eight daughters of James Delap were all
robust and healthy ; women of good sense, sound judgement, and
good business capacity, most of them lived niore than seventy
years and had numerous descendants.
Children of James and Mary Delap horn in Barnstable.
I. Rose, born Feb. 25, 1739, O. S., married Ebenezer Scud-
der, of Barnstable, Jan, 11, 1759, and had ten children:
1, Ebenezer, Aug. 13, 1761; 2, James, March 14, 1764,
died young; 3, Thomas, Sept. 10, 1766, died young; 4,
Isaiah, Jan. 8, 1768 ; 5, Asa, July 25, 1771 ; 6, Elizabeth,
Oct. 12, 1773, married Morton Croclier ; 7, Josiah, Nov.
30, 1775; 8, James D., Oct. 27,1779; 9, Thomas D.,
Jan. 25, 1782 ; 10, Rose, April 24, 1784, died young.
Mrs. Rose Scudder died April 17, 1812, aged 72 years.
Mr. Ebenezer Scudder died June 8, 1818, aged 85 years.
He was a man of mild, pleasant disposition, a quiet, good
neighbor. Mrs. Rose Scudder was a woman of great
firmness and decision of character, and of untiring industry.
She resided at Chequaquet, near Phinney's Mill, seven
miles from the meeting house in the east parish, yet she
often, on the Sabbath, walked to meeting, attended the
morning and afternoon service, dined and took tea with
her sister Catherine, and walked home in the evening, the
whole distance by unfrequented roads, and moi'e than one-
half the distance through forests. She often traveled four
miles to spend an evening, and at 9 o'clock walked home
alone, nearly the whole distance through a dense forest.
She spun much street yarn ; but she spun it for some pur-
pose. She carried her knitting work with her, and knit as
she walked on. She said her work was good company on
a dark night. Her sons Ebenezer, Isaiah, Asa, Josiah and
James, inherited the character of their mother, and were
active business men, and successful in life. Thomas and
Elizabeth, like their father, were mild and pleasant; but
wanting in energy of character.
II. Abigail, born Nov. 6, 1741, 0. S., married, Feb. 9, 1764,
John Coleman, of Granville, Nova Scotia. He was a son
of James Coleman of Barnstable. She had several chil-
dren. Her sons James and Thomas were lost at sea. She
died in 1825, aged 84.
ni. Catherine, born Sept. 3, 1743, married Amos Otis, (my
grandfather) and always resided in Barnstable. She had
two children, Amos and Solomon. She died Feb. 28,
1819, aged 75, having lived a widow 47 years.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAJiNSTABLE FAMILIES. 313
IV. Thomas, born April 14, 1745, did not marry. He was
master of a vessel, in the King's service, Dec. 6, 1771,
while on a voyage from Philadelphia to Halifax, during a
violent gale and snow storm was east ashore on Great
Point, Nantucket. All on board succeeded in getting to
the shore. It was a thick snow storm and very cold.
Capt. Delap perished in one of the hollows or gorges on
that point. Mr. Amos Otis in another. Two of the sailors
went on to Cortue Point, heading towards the town, and
both froze to death on that point. Two other sailors and
a boy, John Weiderhold, succeeded in getting off Great
Point, and reached a barn at Squam. They covered them-
selves up in the hay, placing the lad between them, so that
the warmth of their bodies kept him from freezing.
The next day the vessel was discovered by people from
the town, high and dry on the beach, and if the captain and
crew had remained on board none would have been lost;
Capt. Delap, Mr. Otis, and most of the crew, had been
exposed to the storm about twelve hours when the vessel
was east on shore, and were wet, benumbed with cold, and
almost exhausted, when they got to the land. The boy
was the only one who had not been exposed, and who had
dry clothing. Capt. Delap is buried at Nantucket, and the
manner of his death is recorded on a monument to his
memory. His age was 26 years, 7 months, and 11 days.
The boy, Weiderhold, from that time made Nantucket
his home. He died about thirty years ago. He was a
member of the Masonic Fraternity, and a very worthy man.
He often related the sad story of the shipwreck, and pointed
out the spots where each perished.
V. Mary, born Nov. 3, 1747, O. S., married Seth Backus of
Barnstable, had a family of six children, Walley, Betsey,
Mary, Seth, James, Thomas, and removed to Lee, Mass.,
where she died at an advanced age. Her son Walley was
an influential man.
VI. Sarah, born April 11, 1750, O. S., married Capt. James
Farnsworth, of Groton, and removed to Machias, where
she died in 1785, aged 35 years. She had a son who died
in childhood, and three daughters. One married Simeon
Foster, and resided at Cooper, Maine. Her grandson,
Benjamin F. Foster, was a popular writing master, and
author of a system of penmanship. Another daughter,
Sarah, married George S. Smith, Esq., of Machias.
VII. Jane or Jean, born Aug. 13, 1752, O. S., married, in 1772,
Jonas Farnsworth, (a cousin of the Capt. Jonas who mar-
ried Sarah.) Their oldest daughter, Nancy, (my mother)
was born at Machias, in 1773. Having obtained of the
314 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
British authorities a permit to remove, and a protection
against capture, tlie family embarked for Boston. On their
passage the vessel was taken- by the British ship of war
Viper, and sent to Halifax. They afterwards took passage
in another vessel, were again captured, and were finally
landed at Newburyport, from whence they proceeded to his
native town, Groton, Mass. When captured, several shots
were fired, and at the suggestion of the Captain, Mrs. F.
and her infant daughter laid on the cabin floor, which was
below the water line and comparatively safe.* Mr. Jonas
Farnsworth died suddenly of apoplexy, July 16, 1805, aged
57 years. She died May 1826, aged 73. They had ten
children, and have numerous descendants. Their youngest'
son. Rev. James Delap, was a graduate of Harvard College,
and collected materials for genealogies of the Farnsworth
and Delap families, which remain unpublished.
VIII. Hannah, born July 14, 1755, N. S., married Samuel Street,
Esq., a Captain in the British Navy, and died soon after,
leaving no children.
IX. Temperance, born in 1757, baptized at the East Church
Jan. 15, 1758, married Dea. Thaddeus Harris, f of Corn-
wallis. Nova Scotia, and died Nov. 9, 1732, aged 76, leav-
ing a numerous family of children and grand-children.
One of her sons was for many years a member of the
Queen's Council. A grandson for several years was a
minister at Hyannis.
X. James, born March, baptized Nov. 18, 1759, married at
20, Sarah Walker, of Granville, and had twelve children.
He married for his second wife Mrs. Pengree, of Corn-
wallis, N. S., and removed to that town. He was for
many years a deacon of the Baptist Church in Granville.
He lived to be an old man.
It is surprising that no contemporaneous account of the voy-
age of the George and Ann to this country can be quoted — a voy-
age unparelled in atrocity in the annals of immigration. Most
that is known is traditionary. Records must somewhere exist.
The newspapers of the day probably contain some information.
The records of the court in Dublin, where Rymer had his trial, if
'Copies could be obtained, would furnish authentic information.
.„ *-t" ? '""^"^ °^ "^7 Sreat grandfather, James Delap, to his daughter Jane, dated Gran-
ville, July 15, 1780, but not forwarded till Oct. 1, he says ; "We want to see you very much ;
but as the times are, cannot. Pray write at every opportunity, for we long to hear from you
and little Nancy. Wo heard you had a tedious time home, and were taken again. We hope
all these things wUl work together for your good. We are old, and the times are such, we
never expect to see you again. Let us endeavor to become the true children of God, so as
to meet in the Heavenly Kingdom, and never more he separated."
t Dea. Harris was living in 1834, affcd 86,
DEXTER.
ME. THOMAS DEXTER, SENIOR.
Of the early life of Mr. Dexter, little is known. He came
over, either with Mr. Endicott in 1629, or, in the fleet, with Gov.
Winthrop, the following year, bringing with him his wife, and chil-
dren, and several servants. He had received a good education,
and wrote a beautiful court-hand ; was a man of great energy
of character, public spirited, and ever ready to contribute of his
means, and use his influence in promoting any enterprise which he
judged to be for the interest of the infant colony. He did his
own thinking, and was independent and fearless in the expression
of his opinions. Such were the leading traits in the character of
Mr. Dexter ; but it must be admitted that his energy of character
bordered on stubbornness, and his independence of thought, on
indiscretion and self-will.
In the year 1630, in the prime of life, and with ample means,
he settled on a farm of eight hundred acres, in the town of Lynn.
In the cultivation of his lands he employed many servants, and
was called, by way of eminence, Farmer Dexter. His house was
on the west side of Saugus river, above where the iron works
were afterward built. In 1633, he built a weir across the Saugus
river, for the purpose of taking bass and'alewives, of which many
were dried and smoked for shipment. He also built a mill, and
bridge across the Saugus. In these enterprises he was the man-
ager, and principal owner.
Mr. Dexter was admitted to be a freeman of the Massachu-
setts Colony May 18, 1631 ; but disfranchised March 4, 1633,
therefore his name does not appear on the printed list. He had
many quarrels, and many vexatious law-suits. If the contro-
versies respecting the iron works, in which he was a large owner,
* One of Mr. Dexter's descendants writes that the absence of all reference to any wife in
numerons deeds, dating back to 1639, seems to make it certain that he was a widower when
he came over, or lost nis wife early in his residence here. The fact that his youngest
daughter was marriagable in 1639, would seem also necessarily to throw hack his birth date
to 1590-1595 ; which would make him 81 to 86 when he died .
'316 GKNEALOGIOAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
are included in the records and documents, which have been pre-
served, in which he had an interest, they would fill a moderate
sized volumn. The reader of these records should remember that
they were made by the personal enemies of Mr. Dexter, and though
the"^ facts may be accurately stated, yet some allowance is to be
made for the hostile feeling which existed in the minds of the
writers.
In March, 1631, he had a quarrel with Gov. Endicott, in which
the Salem Magistrate struck Mr. Dexter, who complained to the
Court at Boston. Mr. Endicott m his defence, says, "I hear I
am much complained of by goodman Dexter for striking him ;
understanding since it is not lawful for a justice of the peace to
strike. But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, with such
daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it would have provoked a
very patient man. He has given out, if I had a purse he would
make me empty it, and if he cannot have justice here, he will do
wonders in England ; and if he cannot prevail there, he will try it
out with me here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it at
blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you would not hear
me complain." The jury to whom the case was referred, gave on
the 3d of May, 1631, a verdict for Mr. Dexter, assessing the
damage at £10 sterling ($44.44.)
In March, 1633, the court ordered that Mr. Dexter "be set in
the bilbows, disfranchised, and fined £10 sterling, for speaking
reproachful and seditious words against the government here
established." The bilbows were a kind of stocks set up near the
meeting-house in Lynn, in which the hands and feet of the culprit
were confined
"A Bastile, made to imprison hands,
By strange enchantment made to fetter,
The lesser parts, and free the greater."
Mr. Dexter, having been insulted by Samuel Hutchinson, he
met him one day on the road, "and jumping from his horse, he
bestowed about twenty blows on his head and shoulders, to the no
small danger and deray of his senses, as well as sensibilities."
These facts show that Mr. Dexter was not a meek man. He had
many difficulties with his neighbors, and one of the vexatious law-
suits in which he was engaged, he left as a heritage to his children
and to his grand-children. Whether justice was or was not on his
side in all these cases, the troubles that environed him at Lynn,
induced him to seek a quieter home. In 1637, he and nine of his
neighbors obtained from the Plymouth Colony Court a grant of
the township of Sandwich. He went there that year, and with
the commendable public spirit for which he had ever been distin-
guished built the first grist mill erected in that town. He did not
remain long, for in 1638, the next year, he had 350 acres of land
assigned him as one of the inhabitants of Lynn, and he
GENEALOGICAL NOTKS OF BAKNSTABLB FAMILIES. 317
remained there certainly till 1646, when he was indicted by
the Court of Quarter Sessions as a common sleeper at meetings.
It is probable that he left his son Thomas, not then of age, at
Sandwich, to take the care of his property in that town, and that
he returned to Lynn. At Sandwich he had lands assigned to him
in the first division. At the division of the meadows April 16,
1640, he had six acres assigned to him for his mill, and "twenty-
six acres if he come here to live." This record is conclusive evi-
dence that he was not of Sandwich in 1640. Mr. Freeman, in his
annals of that town, is mistaken in his statement that "he was one
of those able to bear arms in Sandwich in 1643." His name is
not on the list ; neither is that of his son Thomas who does not
appear to have been of Sandwich that year. From the year 1640
to March 1646, neither the father or the son are named in the
Colony Records as residents in Sandwich, though the father con-
tinued to own the mill, and was one of the proprietors of the
lands.
March 3, 1645-6, Thomas Dexter, of Sandwich, was pre-
sented by the grand jury, for conveying away a horse that had
been pressed for the country use. Whether this was the father or
son, does not appear, nor is it material, for both were residents in
Sandwich that year. The father did not remain long in Sandwich.
Mr. Freeman saj^s he left in 1648, he was certainly of Barnstable
in 1651, and was an inhabitant of thattown till 1670, probably till
1675.
About the year 1 646 he purchased two farms in Barnstable.
One to which reference has been frequently had in these articles,
situate on the south-east of the Blossom farm, and adjoining to
the mill stream,* and afterwards owned and occupied by William
Dexter, probably his son, and the other on the north-eastern
declivity of Scorton Hill. His dwelling house was situate on the
north side of the old county road, and commanded an extensive
prospect of the country for miles around.
He led a quiet life in Barnstable, his name occasionally
appears as a juryman, and as a surety for the persecuted Quakers,
showing that he did not sympathize with the Barlow party. He
could not, however, entirely refrain from engaging in law suits.
At the March term of the Court in 1648-9, he had eight cases,
principally for the collection of debts, and he recovered in seven.
In 1653, he had a controversy with his neighbors respecting the
* In my investigations, I have been unable to ascertain who built the first mill ou tlie
stream now known as Jones's mill stream at West Barnstable. Mr. Dexter's lands were
partly bounded by that stream, and I should not be surprised if some future investifrator
should ascertain that he built the first mill at West Barnstable, also the Old Stone Fort, to
which frequent reference is made in the Crocker article.
On Wednesday last 1 was at Sandwich, and for the first time examined the records of
that towu for information respecting the Dexter family. I found much that I regret that I
had not known before writing this article. The records, in almost every instance, and I am
not certain but in every instance, refer to the second Thomas Dexter. A deed of his to the
town of Sandwich, is an exceedingly interesting document.
318 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
boundaries of his lands, and at his request two men were appointed
by the Colony Court, "to set at rights the lines or ranges," pro-
vided the parties cannot agree among themselves. It was after-
wards referred to Barnard Lumbard.
He had, soon after his settlement in Barnstable, a contro-
versey with the inhabitants, which remained unsettled for many
years. As the case has a historical interest and illustrates the
leading trait in his character, I shall give some details. Some
years prior to 1652, he built a causeway across his own meadow,
and a bridge across Scorton Creek, and extended the causeway to
the upland on Scorton Neck, at the place where the new County
road now passes over. A bridge and causeway to Scorton Neck
had previously been built by Sandwich men, about half a mile
farther west, which had been used in common by them and the
inhabitants of Barnstable. Mr. Dexter's bridge shortened the
distance which the latter had to travel to their meadows on Scorton
Neck, and they claimed a right to pass over the new bridge with-
out having assisted in the building, and without paying toll ;
because in the year 1652, according to the Barnstable town
records, "It was agreed upon by the Jury for the highways,
Anthony Annable being the foreman thereof, that a Highway two
rod broad go from the point of upland of Samuel Fuller's
through the marsh of Thomas Dexter's to the main creek, and so
cross the marshes as far as the marsh . of Samuel Hinckley's.
Also, it is agreed by the said Jury that a foot way go from
Lieutenant Fuller's house across the creek, where Mr. Dexter's
bridge was, and so straight along to Mr. Bursley's bridge, leaving
Mr. Dexter's orchard on the right hand, and Goodman Fitzrandles
house on the left hand."
The highway laid out passed on the west side of Dexter's
farm, southerly to the old County road. The foot way corre-
sponds in locations with the new County road, till it joins the
old, and thence by the latter to Bursley's bridge.
The matter was a cause of diflSculty, and remained unsettled
till Obtober 5, 1656, when the Plymouth Colony Court appointed
and requested M. Prence, and Capt. Cudworth, to view the place
in controversy, and if they they can, put an end to it, and if they
cannot, to make report unto the Court of the state of the
matter.
On the 10th of the same month the parties interested, namely,
Thomas Dexter, Senior, of the one part, and of the other, Samuel
Hinckley, William Crocker, Samuel Fuller, Peter Blossom,
Thomas Hinckley, Robert Parker, John Chipman, and Robert
Linnell, appeared on the premises iDefore Mr. Thomas Prence and
Capt. James Cudworth, and the case that had caused so much
trouble, was "issued" to the satisfaction of all the parties. 1,
It was agreed, "that all that are interested in any marsh above
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 319
the aforesaid marsh, that needs the privilege of the said way,
shall pay unto the said Thomas Dexter six pence per acre, in lieu
and full recompense for the said marsh wayed, forever, himself
and such others as make use thereof, to make and repair the said
way, proportionable to the use made of it — the gates or bars to be
shut after any one's use thereof by them, to prevent damage."
Right in this case, is apparent. If Thomas Dexter built, as
he did, a causeway and bridge on his own meadow, no one had a
legal right to use the same without his consent. The owners of
the meadows on Scorton Neck had a right of way to the
same, and the town had a legal right to lay out such way ; and if
they laid it out over Thomas Dexter's private way, he had a legal
right to claim compensation. This he claimed, and the parties
interested refused to pay. The ^referees decided the case in his
favor, giving him six pence an acre, or about six dollars in all, not
enough to pay the law expenses he probably incurred. He had
legal right on his side ; but there were other considerations which
should have deterred him from exacting "the pound of flesh." It
was the only convenient place to build a bridge, it was the natural
outlet of the meadows above, and before the bridge was built the
owners had sometimes crossed over at that place. It was not an act
of good neighborhood on the part of Mr. Dexter to maintain a
quarrel more than five years, that he might have his own way.
In the following year, 1657, he commenced his lawsuit against
the inhabitants of the town of Lynn for the possession of Nahant,
which he claimed as his private properly by virtue of purchase
made about the year 1637, of the Indian Sachem, Poquanum, or
Black Will, for a suit of clothes. This was a mercantile specula-
tion, and the law suits which it produced were very expensive.
In February 1657, the inhabitants of Lynn voted to divide Nahant
among the householders, to each an equal share, and Mr. Dexter
thereupon brought an action against the town for taking possession
and occupying his property. He had, up to that time, manu-
factured tar from the pine trees ; and the town had also exercised
some rights of ownership. This unusual mode of division made
every householder an interested party against Mr. Dexter, who
was then a non-resident. The court decided in favor of the
defendants, and Mr. Dexter appealed to the Assistants, who con-
firmed the judgment of the lower court. Whatever might have
been the justice of his claim, it would have been difficult for him
to have obtained a verdict where nearly all the witnesses in the
case liad an adverse interest.*
After his death his administrators, Capt. James Oliver, his
son-in-law, an eminent merchant of Boston, and his grandson,
* The law forbidding purchases of land from the Indians except by public permission,
had not been passed when Mr. Dexter bought Nahant ; so that it would seem that he had a
legal l-ight to make the purchase. S.
320 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
Thomas, of Sandwich, were not satisfied with the decisions of the
courts, and in 1678, brought another action, and in 1695, after the
death of Thomas Dexter, 3d, another was brought all with like
results. These suits continued at intervals through a series of
thirty-eight years, were very expensive, and the Dexters being the
losing party, their costs must have amounted to a large sum. It
was the settled policy of the first settlers, that all purchases of
lands from the Indians, should be by virtue of public authority.
Mr. Dexter was not so authorized, and therefore had no legal
right to make the purchase.
In 1657, Mr. Dexter took the oath of fidelity, and was
admitted a freeman of the Plymouth Colony June 1, 1658. For
the succeeding eighteen years he appears to have lived a quiet,
retired life, on his farm at Scorton Hill. He had passed that
period in life when men usually take an active and leading part in
business or in politics. Notwithstanding his expensive law suits,
he had ample means remaining. During his life, he appears to
have conveyed his mill and his large real estate in Sandwich to his
son Thomas, and his West Barnstable farm to William, retaining
his Scorton Hill farm and his personal estate, for his own use.
The latter farm he sold about the year 1675 to William Troop and
removed to Boston that he might spend his last days in the family
of a married daughter, where he died in 1677 at an advanced age.
No attempt has been made to veil his faults — he did not bury his
talent in a napkin — and in estimating his character, we must
inquire what he did, not what he might have done. Who did
more than Thomas Dexter to promote the interests of the infant
settlement at Lynn ? who more at Sandwich ? Others, perhaps,
did as much, none more. He knew this, and his self esteem and
love of approbation, prompted him to resist those who sought to
appropriate to themselves without compensation, the benefits of
the improvements which he had been the principal party to intro-
duce. When at Lynn, he built a weir across the Saugus river,
for the benefit of the fisheries, a grist mill, a bridge across the
Saugus, and was foremost in establishing the iron works in 1643 ;
and at Sandwich he built a grist mill, and at Barnstable a cause-
way and bridge across Scorton Creek and marshes ; all improve-
ments in which the public took a deep interest. For these acts, he
is deserving of credit and they will forever embalm his memory.
His harsh and censorious spirit created enemies, where a more
conciliatory course would have made friends. Vinegar was an
element of his character, and no alchymist could have transmitted
it into oil. He was a member of the Puritan Church ; yet tolerant
and liberal in his views. No immorality was ever laid to his
charge, and judging him by the rule laid down by the Great
Teacher in the parable of the ten talents, we must decide that he
was a useful man in his day and therefore entitled to the respect
of posterity.
GENEALOGICAL, JSOTES OF BAEN8TABLE FAMILIES. 321
Of the family of Mr. Thomas Dexter, Senior, very little is
certainly known. Mr. Lewis, the historian of Lynn, was unable
to furnish anything that was certain and reliable, and the undefati-
gable Mr. Savage gives but a meagre account of his family. Mr.
Freeman repeats the statements of his predecessors, adding very
little to the information furnished by them. It is surprising that
so little should be known of the family of so noted a man as Mr.
Dexter.
It is certain that he had
I. Thomas, born in England, settled in Sandwich.
II. Mary, who married Oct. 1639, Mr. John Frend, who died
young. Before Aug. 1655, as is show by a deed in Suffolk
Registry, she had married Capt. James Oliver. They left no
children.
And he probably had
III. William, who settled in Barnstable.
IV. Francis, who married Richard Wooddy. They had eight chil-
dren. They lived some years in Roxbury. In 1696, Mary
and Frances, who were then widows, brought the, fourth suit
in behalf of their father's claim, upon Nahant, against the
town of Lynn, once more in vain.
In regard to the two last named, I say probably, yet I have
no reason to doubt the statement that William was the son; of
Thomas. Messrs. Lewis, Savage, and Freeman, say he was his
son; but, after the most careful research, I cannot find positive
evidence that such was the fact.
Mr. Drake, the able historian of Boston, has forwarded to.
me the following abstracts, from the records in the. Probate Office
of the County of Suffolk, which furnish additional , information to
what was before known :
"Feb. 9, 1676-7. Power of administration to the estate of
Thomas Dexter, Senior, late of Boston, deceased, is granted to.
Capt. James Oliver, his son-in-law, and Thomas Dexter, Jr., his
grandson."
"Nov. 1678, Ensgne Richard Woodde was joined with Capt. .
Oliver in this administration, in room of Thomas Dexter, Jr.,
deceased."
The Rev. Henry M. Dexter of Boston, a descendant, furnishes
the following abstract of the inventory of the estate dated April
25, 1677. ft includes merely "so much as is due by bill from
William Troop of Barnstable, as follows :
Payable before or in Nov. 1677, £20
u 14 a u u 1678, 20
" " " " " 1679, 20
" " " " " 1680, 10
£70
322 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE EAMILIES.
It is added, "this is inventory and all of the estate that is
known belonging to the deceased party aforsaid, only a claim of
some lands which ly within the bounds of Lynn ; the value whereof
we cannot determine at present until further insight into and
known."
The "claim of some lands" was for Nahant, which was
worthless and to which reference has already been had.
These two extracts prove that Thomas Dexter, Senior, was a
resident in Boston at the time of his death, that he died the latter
part of 1676 or early in 1677, that he had a son Thomas and a
grand-son Thomas, "and a daughter who married Capt. James
Oliver, an eminent merchant of Boston.
These facts enable us to trace one branch of his family with
certainty — that of his son Thomas — who was an early settler in
Sandwich, and died there Dec. 30, 1686. He died intestate, and
his estate was apprised on the 12th of the following January by
John Chipman, Stephen Skiff, and William Bassett at £491,5, a
very large estate in those times. He owned 240 acres of land
at the Plains, valued in the inventory at only £12, or one
shilling an acre. He owned four valuable tracts of meadow,
one on the north of Town Neck, valued at £30 ; one at
the Islands near James Allen's, £90 ; one below Mr. John Chip-
man's new house, £4 ; and one at Pine islands, £40. He owned
two dwelling-houses. That in which he resided (situated about
half a mile southerly from the Glass Factory village) was a large
two story building, apprised at £40; his barn, corn-house, &c.,
£10 ; his home lot 10 acres, £30 ; and a tract of 20 acres adjoin-
ing, at £30. His other dwelling was occupied by his son John,
and the farm on which it was situated is described as consisting of
about 28 acres of "meane land," and "two parcels of meadow that
belongs to that Seate," estimated at 8 acres, all apprised at £80.
The mill, now known as the town mill, with "all her apperten-
ances," at £50. As this apprisment was carefully made,
and was the basis of the division of the estate, it shows
the relative value of different article at that time. A pair
of oxen was valued at £5, and a negro slave at four times that
sum, £20, 7 cows and one steer, £12 ; 28 sheep, £5 ; 1 mare, £2 ;
1 colt, 10 shillings ; his silver ware at £5, 5 shs. ; and his house-
hold furniture, clothing, tools, &c., £25 10 shs.
The estate was settled by an agreement of the Ijeirs in writ-
ing, dated Feb. 16, 1686-7, and is signed by the widow Elizabeth
Dexter, Senior, John Dexter, son of Thomas Dexter, late of
Sandwich, gentleman deceased in his own rights, Elizabeth Dexter,
Jr., in her right, Daniel Allen of Swansea, in the right of Mary,
his wife, and by Jonathan Hallett, in the right of Abigail, his wife.
This agreement shows that Thomas Dexter, the third of the name,
was then dead, and had no lineal heir surviving.
UKMEALOGICAL, NOTES OF BAKMSTABiJi rAMlL,lJ<;s. 323
June 1647, Thomas Dexter, Jr., or the second of the name,
was chosen Constable of the town of Sandwich, a fact which shows
that he was not then less than twenty-four years of age, and that
he was born before his father came to this country. The exact
date when he became a permanent resident, and an inhabitant of
the town of Sandwich, 1 am unable to fix with certainty. He was
not of Sandwich in 1643, but probably was as early as March
1645. The Thomas Dexter named as one of the inhabitants of
Sandwich March 3, 1645-6, was probably the young man, because
his father was about that date an inhabitant of Lynn. In 1648,
he kept the miJl built by his father before the year 1640. In 1647,
he was constable of the town of Sandwich. In 1655, he was
commissioned by the Court, at the request of the inhabitants of
Sandwich, Ensign of the company of militia. He held the office
many years, and was known as Ensign Dexter, and by this title
was distinguished fi-om his father, and his son of the same name.
He was often on the grand and petty juries, was surveyor of high-
ways, and held other municipal ofHces. In 1680, he was licenced
to keep an ordinary or public house for the entertainment of
strangers.
He did not inherit the litigious spirit of his father, though he
did inherit some of his quarrels respecting lands where "no fences,
parted fields, noi- marks, nor bounds, distinguished acres of litig-
ious grounds." These, however, were amicably adjusted by
referees, not by expensive law suits. After 1655, he was, accord-
ing to the usages of the time, entitled to the honor of being styled
Mister, and in the latter part of his life, being a large land-holder,
was styled gentleman. From what is left on record respecting
him, he appears to have been a worthy man ; enterprising, useful,
a good neighbor, and a good citizen.
Ensign Thomas Dexter married, Nov. 8, 1648, Mary or
Elizabeth Vincent. The record of the marriage is mutilated, but
this seems to be its true reading. (In early times Mary and
Elizabeth were considered synonymous or interchangeable. I have
found several similar cases ; but am unabled to give reason.)
The children of Ensign Thomas Dexter, born in Sandwich,
were :
I. Mary, born Aug. 11, 1649. She married Daniel Allen of
Sandwich and removed to Swansey, where she had Elizabeth
28th Sept. 1673, and Christian 26th Jan. 1674-5, and probably
others. After the close of the Indian war she returned to
Swansey. Mr. Savage and- Mr. Freeman both err in saying
that Mary was a daughter of Thomas Dexter, Senior, and that
she was born in Barnstable. The record is perfectly clear
and distinct.
II. Elizabeth, born Sept. 21, 1651, and died young. (Mr. Free-
man savs, "said to have been a maiden in 1767.")
324 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
III. Thomas. His birth does not appear on the record, probably
in 1653. He died, without issue, in 1679. He was appointed,
Feb. 9, 1676-7, joint administrator with Capt. James Oliver of
Boston, on his grandfather's estate.
IV. John, born about the year 1656, resided in Sandwich. He
married, Nov. 1682, Mehitabel, daughter of the second
Andrew Hallett of Yarmouth, and had Elizabeth Nov. 2, 1683 ;
Thomas, Aug. 26, 1686 ; Abigail, May 26, 1689 ; John, Sept.
11, 1692. From Sandwich he removed to Portsmouth, E. I.,
and was there living 24th June 1717 (Savage.) Mr. Free-
man makes a singular mistake in regard to Thomas of this
family. He says, page 79, "Thomas, born Aug. 26, 1686,
who is afterwards called Jr. , whilst his uncle Thomas is called
Senior." When this Thomas was born, his uncle Thomas
had been dead seven years, and his grandfather Thomas died
before the child was six months old, and the necessity for the
use of the terms in not seen.
V. Elizabeth, born 7th April 1660. She does not appear to have
married. She was single at the time of the settlement of her
father's estate, Feb. 16, 1686-7. Her mother, who died
March 19, 1713-14, bequeaths to Elizabeth in her will dated
Aug. 29, 1689, her whole estate. This will was proved April
8, 1714, and the daughter seems to have then been living, and
unmarried.
VI. Abigail, June 12, 1663, married, Jan. 30, 1684-5, Jonathan
Hallett of Yarmouth, had eight children, and died Sept. 2,
1715, aged 52, and is buried in the old grave yard in
Yarmouth.
William Dexter was in Barnstable in 1657. He probably
was a son of Thomas Dexter, Senior, and came with bis father to
Barnstable about the year 1650. His farm was originally owned
by his father. He removed to Rochester about the year 1690,
where he died in 1694 intestate, and his estate was settled by
mutual agreement between the widow Sarah and her children,
Stephen, Phillip, James, Thomas, John, and Benjamin Dexter,
and her daughter Mary, wife of Moses Barlow. James, Thomas
and John, had the Rochester lauds, and Stephen, Phillip and
Benjamin, the Barnstable estate. In the division of the meadows
in 1694 William had 3 acres assigned him by the committee of the
town, which was reduced to two by the arbitrators in 1697. Ste-
phen and Phillip, the only children of William of sufficient age,
were assigned 2 acres each. In 1703 Phillip had removed to Fal-
mouth, and Stephen was the only one of the name who remained
in town. He had 48 shares alloted to him in the division of the
common lands, considerably more than the average, showing him
to be a man of good estate. He married Sarah Vincent July 1653,
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAENSTABLE FAMILIES. 325
and his children born in Barnstable were :
I. Mary, Jan. 1654, married Moses Barlow and removed to
Rochester.
II. Stephen, May 1657, married Ann Saunders.
III. Phillip, Sept. 1659, removed to Falmoath.
IV. James, May 1662, married Elizabeth Tobey, died 1697.
V. Thomas, July 1665, married Sarah C, March 1702-3. Died
July 31, 1744. Left no issue.
VI. John, Aug. 1668.
VII. Benjamin, Feb. 1670, removed to Rochester, married Mary
Miller of Rochester July 17, 1695. His son, Dea. Seth,
was the great grandfather of Rev. Henry M. Dexter of
Boston.
Stephen Dexter, son of William, born in Barnstable May
1657, married, 27th April, 1696, Anna Saunders. He resided on
the farm of his grandfather Thomas at Dexter's Lane, West
Barnstable, and had,
I. Mary, 24th Aug. 1696, married March 5, 1717-18, Samuel
Chard.
II. A son, 22d Dec. 1698, died January following.
III. Abigail, 13th May, 1699.
IV. Content, 5th Feb. 1701, married Eben Landers of Roches-
ter, 1725.
V. Anna, 9th March 1702-3, married John Williams 1725.
VI. Sarah, 1st June, 1705.
VII. Stephen, 26th July 1707, married Abigail Collier 1736.
VTII. Mercy, 5th July 1709. June 1737, she was living with
Jonathan Crocker, Senior, who gave her £5 in his will.
IX. Miriam, 8th March, 1712.
X. Cornelius, 21st March, 1713-14. He did not marry. With
his sister Molly, he lived in a two-story single house on the
east side of Dexter's Lane, opposite the Mill Pond.
Stephen Dexter, in his will dated March 17, 1729-30,
names his wife Ann, his son Stephen, to whom he gave his home-
stead, son Cornelius, and daughters Abigail, Content, Sarah,
Mercy and Miriam. Also grand-daughter Ann Williams and
grand-children David and Elizabeth Cheard.
Philip Dexter removed to Falmouth, and in his will, proved
June 10, 1741, names his wife Alice, sons Joseph and Phillip, and
son Jabez of Rochester, and five other children. Also a son John
who died 1723. He owned a mill.
James Dexter married Elizabeth Tobey and removed to
Rochester. He died in 1697, leaving a daughter Elizabeth and a
posthumous child. His widow married Nathan Hamond.
Mr. John Dexter was the last of the name in Barnstable.
(See Childs.)
326 GEN»ALOQICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
A John Dexter of Rochester, a blacksmith, settled in Yar-
mouth. He owned the brick house near the Congregational
meeting house. He married 1st, Bethia Vincent in 1748, and 2d,
Phillippe Vincent In 17.58. He had Hannah Sept. 7, 1749 ; Isaac
Oct. 7, 1751 ; and John June 4, 1759. He has descendants in
Nova Scotia.
DEAN.
Eev. Mr. Dean in his history of Scituate, states that Jonas
Deane was in that town in 1690, that he was called Taunton Dean,
and that he came from Taunton, in England. He died in 1697,
leaving a widow Eunice, who married in 1701, Dea. James Torrey,
Town Clerk. His children were Thomas, born Oct. 29, 1691, and
Ephraim, born May 22, 1695. Ephraim married Ann and settled
in Provincetown, and had Eunice Nov. 10, 1725 ; Thankful Feb.
8, 1727-8 ; Ann March 4, 1730-31, and perhaps others.
Thomas settled in Barnstable, and was admitted, May 23,
1731, a member, of the East Church. He probably resided at
South Sea. He married Lydia, and his children born in Barn-
stable were :
I. Lydia, born July 7, 1728, married Joseph Bearse Oct. 12,
1749.
II. Thomas, April 19, 1730, married Abigail Horton.
ni. Jonas, Oct. 27, 1732.
IV. Ephraim, Oct. 17, 1734.
V. William, May 27, 1736.
VI. Eunice, Nov. 4, 1737.
All baptized at the East Church.
Thomas Dean, son of Thomas, married Abigail Horton,
(published Feb. 29, 1752,) and had
I. Hannah, born Jan. 20, 1753.
II. Archelaus, June 26, 1755
After the latter date the name disappears on the Barnstable
records. There are numerous descendants of Thomas Dean of
Barnstable ; but they are widely scattered. Archelaus Dean
Atwood, Esq., of Orrington, Maine, is a descendant.
DIMMOGK.
ELDER THOMAS DIMMOCK.
Elder Thomas Dimmock and Rev. Joseph Hull, are the par-
ties named in the grant made in 1639, of the lands in the town of
Barnstable. A previous grant has been made to Mr. Richard
Collieut of Dorchester, by the Plymouth Colony Court, and sub-
sequent events make it probable, if not certain, that Messrs.
Dimmock and Hull were his associates. The date of the first
grant is not given ; but it was made either in the latter part of 1 637,
or the beginning of 1638. Soon after the first grant was made
Mr. Collieut and some of his associates came to Mattakeese,
surveyed certain lands, and appropriated some of them to his own
particular use ; but he never became an inhabitant of the town,
and failing to perform his part of the contract, the grant to him
was rescinded and made void ; but individual rights acquired by
virtue of the grant to him, were not revoked.
In the winter of 1637-8 the Rev. Stephen Batchiler of Lynn,
and a small company, consisting mostly of his sons, and his sons-
in-law, and their families, attempted to make a settlement in the
north-easterly part of the town, at a place yet known as Oldtown ;
but they remained only a few months. (See Batchiler.)
Some of those who came with Mr. Collieut in 1638, remained
and became permanent residents, for in March 1639, Mr. Dim-
mock was appointed by the Colony Court to exercise the Barn-
stable men in their arms, proving that there were English resi-
dents in the town at that time.
April 1, 1639, the Court ordered that only such persons as
were then at Mattakeset should remain, and make use of some
land, but shall not divide any either to themselves or others, nor
receive into the plantation any other persons, excepting those to
whom the original grant was made, without the special license and
approval of the government.
This order implies, that the English who were in Barnstable
April 1, 1639, were associates of Mr. Collieut and restricts them
from receiving any who were not of that company.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 329
May 6, 1639. "It is ordered by the Court, that if Mr. Collicut
do come in his own person to inhabit at Mattakeeset before the
General Court in June next ensuing ; that then the grant shall re-
main firm unto them ; but, if he fail to come within the time pre-
fixed, that then their grant be made void, and the lands be other-
wise disposed of."
The language of this order cannot be misunderstood. The
Court had granted the lands at Mattakeeset to Mr. Collicut and
his associates on the usual conditions, namely, that they should
"see to the receiving in of such persons as may be fit to live to-
gether there in the fear of G-od, and obedience to our sovereigne
lord the King, in peace and love, as becometh Christian people ;"
that they should "faithfully dispose of such equal and fit portions
of lands unto them and every of them, as the several estates,
ranks and qualities of such persons as the Almighty in his provi-
dence shall send in amongst them, shall require ; to reserve, for
the disposal of the Court, at least acres of good land, with
meadow competent, in place convenient, and to make returns to
the Court of their doings." These conditions had not been com-
plied with — a month's notice was given — Mr. Collicut did not
come in person — and the Court on the 4th of June, 1639, made
void the grant to him ; but not to his associates who had then set-
tled in Barnstable.*
As Mr. Dimmock was of Dorchester he was probably one of
the original associates of Mr. Collicut. Mr. Hull and Mr. Burs-
ley of Weymouth, and the other inhabitants of Barnstable, prior
to Oct. 21, 1639, with a few exceptions hereinafter named, be-
longed to the same company.
Mattakeeset was incorporated and became a town called Barn-
stable, on the 4th of June 1639, old stile, or June 14th new stile,
lam aware that the Eev. JohnMellen, Jr., in his Topographical de-
scription of Barnstable, published in 1794 in the third volume of
the Massachusetts Historical Society's collections, says : "There
is no account to be found of the first settlement made in this
town. Probably there was none made much before its incorpora-
tion which was Sept. 3, 1639, O. S. As Mr. Mellen says, there
was no record of the act of incorporation made. As early as 1685
when many of the first settlers were living, Gov. Hinckley was
appointed a committee of the town, to examine the records and
*Mr. Collicut was admitted a freeman of the Massachusetts Colony March 4, 1632-3.
He was a deputy to the General Court from Dorchester in 1636, '37 and '55. Selectman in
1636. His business arrangements probably prevented him from coming to Barnstable, as he
had intended. May 17, 1637, about the time he and his associates intended to remove, he
was appointed Commissaiy, to make provisions for the troops employed in the expedition
against the Pequot Indians. In 1638 he was appointed by the Court to rectify the bounds
between Dedham and Dorchester, and in 1641 to run the south line of the State adjoining
Connecticut. He was one of the company authorized to trade with the Indians, and was
much employed in public business. He removed to Boston before 1656. In 1669 he was of
Falmouth, now Portland, and in 1672 of Saco, from both of which places he was a repre-
sentative to the General Court in the years named, He finally returned to Boston, where he
died July 7, 1685, aged 83, and was Iniried on Copp's Hill.
330 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
ascertain the conditions on which the grant to Messrs. Hull and
Dimmock was made. The result of his investigation he placed
on record. He found no record of the grant or of the act of in-
corporation, but he ascertained that both were made in the year
1639.
Notwithstanding there is no record of the day on which Barn-
stable was incorporated as one of the towns of Plymouth Colony,
the date can be fixed with certainty by other evidence. It clearly
appears by the records that Barnstable was not an incorporated
town June 3, 1639, 0. S. As has been already stated, a certain
conditional grant of the lands had been made to Mr. Collicut and
his associates, preliminary to the organization of a town govern-
ment ; and under the authority of that grant, about fifteen fam-
ilies had settled within the limits of the township. Mr. Dimmock
was authorized, March 1639, to exercise the men in the use of
arms, because, in a remote settlement, surrounded by bands of
Indians, in whose friendship reliance could not be placed, a mili-
tary organization was of prime importance.
The terms of the Court order of May 6, imply that some of
Mr. Collicut's associates had then settled at Mattakeeset, but he
himself, it is emphatically stated, had not, and he was allowed till
the 3d of June, 1639, to remove, and if on that day he had not
removed, the grant made to him was to be null and void. He did
not remove, and on the 4th day of June the grant to Mr. Collicut
was declared null and void, and the grant transferred to Rev.
Joseph Hull and Elder Thomas Dimmock. Perhaps the reason
for not making a record was this ; the grant was a simple trans-
fer from Mr. Collicut as principal to Messrs. Dimmock and Hull
two of his associates. As no change had been made in the
conditions, no record was deemed necessary.
Beside the above, others had settled within the present territory
of the town of Barnstable prior to Jan. 1644, but had removed at
that date. Rev. Mr. Bachiler and his company, as above stated,
on lands, that prior to 1642, were included within the bounds of
Yarmouth. William Chase afterwards owned a portion of those
lands occupied by Mr. Bachiler, and as he had a garden and an
orchard thereon, it is probable that he resided some little time in
Barnstable prior to 1644.
President Ezra Stiles presumes that George Kendrick, Thomas
Lapham, John Stockbridge, and Simeon Hoit or Hoyte, removed
with Mr. Lothrop There is some evidence that George Kendrick
was one of the first who came to Barnstable. Mr. Deane says he
left Scituate in 1638. He is named as of Barnstable in 1640, but
there are reasons for doubling the accuracy of the date. If of
Barnstable he removed to Boston in 1640 or soon after. Mr.
Deane's notice of Thomas Lapham is imperfect. He was one of
the first settlers in Scituate, certainly there April 24, I(i36, and
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES. 331
died in that town in 1648. I find no evidence tiiat he was ever of
Barnstable. Hoit joined Mr. Lothrop's church in Scituate April
19, 163.5, sold his house there in 1636 or soon after. About the
year 1639 he removed to Winsor, Conn. If of Barnstable he was
here very early. John Stockbridge was a wheel and millwright,
and may have resided in Barnstable as a workman. I find no
trace of evidence that he was ever an inhabitant. He afterwards
was of Boston.
In addition to the foregoing, a few other names may be added,
servants of the first settlers, who did not remain long and were
never legal inhabitants.
Of the forty-five heads of families who were inhabitants of
Barnstable in Jan. 1643-4, there came from
Scituate, 26 23
Duxbury, 2
Hingham, 2 2
Yarmouth, 1
Boston, 3 3
Weymouth, 1 1
Charlestown, 1
England, 9 9
45 38
Those noted as from England had probably resided in Boston
or Dorchester a short time previously to coming to Barnstable.
In the second column is placed the number of the families who
were inhabitants Oct. 21, 1639.
Thus far the proof respecting the date of the incorporation of
Barnstable has consisted of negations. June 4, 1639, O. 8., the
General Court met and entered on its records that Barnstable was
one of the towns within the Colony of New Plymouth, and ap-
pointed William Casely the first constable, and he was then sworn
into oflice.
These quotations from the records show conclusively that the
Rev. Mellen was mistaken in his date, and equally as conclusively
that the town of Barnstable was incorporated, according to the
usages of the times, on the fourteenth day of June 1639, new
style.*
That Mr. Dimmock was appointed in March, 1639, "to exercise
Barnstable men in their arms," does not prove that the town had
then been incorporated for, at the same court, a similar appoint-
*The conclusion of Mr. Otis that the incorporation of Bamstahle should date from
June 4, O. S., (June 14, N. S.,) seems untenable Irom his own reasoning. The fact that a
constable was appointed, at the session of the court of June 4, is not sufficient; this officer
was often appointed for places that were not at the time recognized as towns. A place not
entitled to be represented in the court called not be considered as fully incorporated, and
Barnstable was not so represented until the ensuing December term. The record of the
"Committees or Deputies for each town" in the colony, has the following : "For Barnstable,
Mr. Joseph Hull, Mr. Thomas Dimmock, made in December Court, 1639." This would
seem to be conclusive that the incorporation of the town should date from Dec. 3, 1639,
when the court met. S.
332 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
ment was made for Marshfield, but that town was not incorporated
till September 1640, and then as Rexame.
No formal acts of incorporation were passed in regard to anj'
of the towns, so that Barnstable is not an exception. A general
law was passed from which I have made some extracts. The
Secretary usually noted the time when acts' of incorporation were
passed, but the instrument itself was not recorded.
The history of Mr. Dimmock is identified with the early history
of the town and cannot be separated. He was the leading man
and was in some way connected with all the acts of the first settlers.
On the 5th of January, 1643-4, Thomas Hinckley, Henry Cobb,
Isaac Robinson, and Thomas Lothrop, drew up a list of those who
were then inhabitants of Barnstable, and I infer from the order
annexed to the same, that the forty-five named were also house-
holders. In making this list, they commenced at the west end of
the plantation, at Anthony Annable's, now Nathan Jenkins', and
proceeded eastward, recording the names of the inhabitants in the
order in which they resided to Mr. Thomas Dimmock, whose
house stood a little distance east of where Isaac Davis' now
stands.
Townsmen of Barnstable Jan. 1643-4.
1. Anthony Annable, from Scituate, 1640.
2. Abraham Blush, Duxbury, 1640.
3. Thomas Shaw, Hingham, 1639.
4. John Crocker, Scituate, 1639.
5. Dollar Davis, Duxbury, 1641-2.
§. Henry Ewell,* Scituate, 1639.
7. William Betts, Scituate, 1639.
"William Pearse of Yarmouth, 1643.
8. Robert Shelley, Scituate, 1639.
9. Thomas Hatch, Yarmouth, 1642.
10. John Cooper, Scituate, 1639.
11. Austin Bearse, came over 1638, of B. 1639.
12. William Crocker, Scituate, 1639.
13. Henry Bourne, Scituate, 1639.
14. Henry Coggin, Boston, Spring 1639.
15. Lawrence Litchfield of B., Spring 1639.
16. James Hamblin, London, of B., Spring of 1639.
17. James Cudworth, Scituate, 1640.
18. Thomas Hinckley, Scituate, 1639.
19. Samuel Hinckley, t Scituate, 8th July, 1640.
William Tilly, Spring 1639, removed to Boston 1043.
20. Isaac Robinson, Scituate, 1639.
*The town record is Henry Coxwell, an error of the clerk who transcribed the list. It
should be Henry Ewell.
tSamuel Hinckley's name is the 46th on the record. It should be the 18th. His
houselot adjoined his son Thomas Hinckley's houselot. In 1640 he built a bouse on the east
side of CoKgins' Pond, in which he resided until his removal to West Barnstable.
OKNEAL.0G10AL NOTES OF BAEN8TABLE FAMILIES. 333
21 . Samuel Jackson, Scituate, 1639.
22. Thomas AUyn, ^ Spring of 1639.
Mr. Joseph Hull, Weymouth, May 1639.
23. , Mr. John Biirsley, Weymouth,' May 1639.
24. Mr. John, Mayo, came over 1638, of Biarnstable 1639.
25. John Casley, Scituate, Spring of 1639.
26. William Caseley, Scituate, of B. Spring of 1639.
27. Robert Linnett, Scituate, 1639.
28. Thomas Lothrop, Scituate, 1639.
29. Thomas Lumbard, Scituate, 1639.
30. Mr. John Lothrop, Scituate, Oct. 20, 1639.
31. John Hall, Charlestown, 1641.
32. Henry Rowley, Scituate, 1639.
33. Isa,ac Wells, Scituate, 1639.
34. John Smith, of Barnstable, 1639.
35. George Lewis, Scituate, 1639.
36. Edward Fitzrandolphe, Scituate, 1639.
37. Bernard Lumbard, Scituate, 1639.
38. Roger Goodspeed, of Barnstable, 1639.
39. Henry Cobb, Scituate, Oct. 21, 1639.
40. Thomas Huckins,. Boston, 1639.
41. John Scudder, Boston, 1639.
42. Samuel Mayo, of Barnstable, 1639.
43. Nathaniel Bacon, of Barnstable, 1639.
44. Richard Foxwell, from Scituate, 1639.
45. Thomas Dimmock, Hingham, Spring 16S9.
The following were or had been residents, but were not
townsmen in Jan. 1643-4.
Samuel House returned to Scituate. He was of Barnstable
in 1641 and 1644.
John Oates, buried May 8, 1641.
Samuel Fuller, from Scituate, had resided temporarily in
Parnstable ; but he did not become a townslnan till after Jan.
1643-4. His cousin, Capt. Matthew Fuller, did not settle in
Barnstable till 1652.
Capt. Nicholas Simpkins was returned as able to b'6ar afrris in
Aug. 1643. He was one of the first settlers in Yarrhoiith. He
did not remain long in Barnstable. John Bryant and Daniel
Pryor are named as residents in 1641 . Neither w61'e'then of legal
age. In 1643, Bryant had removed to Scituate, and Pryer to
Duxbury. John Blower and Francis Crocker were residents in
1643. Perhaps not of legal age. A John Rus.^ell was also of
Barnstable in that year.
The following also returned in Aug. 1643, as able to bear
arms, were not of legal age in January 1643-4 : Thomas Bdurman,
John Foxwell, son of Richard, Thomas Blossom, Nicholas and
334 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OP BARNSTABLE FAMILIES.
John Davis, sons of Dolar, Samuel, Joseph, and Benjamin
Lothrop, sons of John, David Linnett, son of Robert, Nathaniel
Mayo, son of John, and Richard Berry.
Of the 26 from Scituate, two, at least, were of Barnstable in
the Spring of 1639, and three delayed removing till 1640. Mr.
Lothrop and a majority of his church did not resolve to remove
till June, and on the 26th of that month a fast was held
"For the presence of God in mercy to goe with us to Mattakeese."
There is no record of the names of those who came in June.
Those who came, probably left their families at Scituate, and
came by land, bringing with them their horses, cattle, farming and
other utensils, in order to provide hay for their cattle, and shelter
for their families before winter.
A majority of the earlier settlers did not come from Scituate.
The fourteen last named on the list were in Barnstable very early,
and settled near the Unitarian Meeting-House, in the easterly part
of the plantation. These lands are those named in the record as
run out by authority of Mr. Collicot. Mr. Dimmock's Lot was
the most easterly, and in 1654 is thus described on the town
record : "Imp. a grant of a great lot to Mr. Dimmock, with
meadow adjoining, at a Little Running Brook at ye East End of
the plantation, toward Yarmouth, which Lands is in the present
possession of G-eorge Lewis, Sen'r, let and farmed out to him for
some certain years by the said Mr. Dimmock."*
This description is indefinite, yet important facts are stated.
It was triangular in form and contained, including upland and
meadows, about seventy-five apres. The east corner bound stood
a little distance east of the present dwelling-house of William W.
Sturgis, and was bounded southerly by the county road, 115 rods
to the range of fence between the houses of Solomon Hinckley
and Charles Sturgis, thence northerly across mill creek to the old
common field, and thence south-easterly to the first mentioned
bound, and mcluded a narrow strip of upland on the north side of
the mill creek meadows. The soil of the upland was fertile, and
the meadows easy of access, and productive. It was the best
grazing farm in the East Parish, and although lands and meadows
then bore only a nominal price, it is not surprismg that Mr. Dim-
mock was enabled to rent his.
*This is called Mr. Dimmock's "great lot" yet. I think it was not what was generally
understood by the term "great lot" among the first settlers. In subsequent records the
tracts of land situate between Mr. Lothrop's great lot on the west, and Barnard Lumbert's
on the east, (now Dinunock's Lane) and bounded north by the County road, is called "Mr.
Dimmock's Great Lot," and is now owned by Joshua Thayer, Capt. Pierce, Wm. W. Stur-
gis, Mr. Whittemore, Capt. Swinerton, and the Heirs of Capt. Franklin Percival. This land,
m 1689, was owned by his son Ensign Shubael, and the record may refer to him, though he
would not have been entitled to a "great lot" only as the representative of his father', not in
his own right. Besides the above. Elder Thomas, as one of the proprietors, was entitled to
commonage, to which his son Shubael succeeded. (Commonage. This word is used by
Dr. Bond and others, to express in one word all the right which the first settlers of towns
had in the common lands and meadows, whether by virtue of their rights as proprietors, or
as townsmen.)
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAEN8TABLE FAMILIES. 335
In the sketch of the Bacon Family, the laying out of lots on
the west of the Dimmock farm is described. The lots first laid
out generally extended in length from east to west, while those
afterwards laid out were longer on their north and south lines.
The Rev. John Lothrop's first house stood near the Eldridge
hotel. On the east of this lot seven Scituatei men settled, namely,
Henry Rowley, on the same lot, Isaac "Wells near the Court House,
George Lewis, Sen'r near the Ainsworth house, Edward Fitz-
randolph on the corner lot adjoining the Hyannis road, Henry
Cobb a little north from the Unitarian Meeting House, Richard
Foxwell near the Agricultural Hall, and Bernard Lumbard near
the mill where Dolar Davis afterwards resided. f The three last
named came early, probably all of the seven.
The other Scituate men who came with Mr. Lothrop numbered
from 12 to 32, settled between the Court House and the present
westerly bounds of the East Parish. Those who came later,
farther west. This is a general statement ; there are exceptions,
which will be noted hereafter.
A settlement was also made very early on the borders of
Coggin's Pond. Here we find the same peculiarity in the shape of
the original lots, their longer lines extended from east to west ;
while m all other parts of the town except in these two particular
localities the longer lines are north and south. The early settlers
in that neighborhood were Henry Bourne and Thomas Hinckley,
from Scituate, and Henry Coggin, Lawrence Litchfield, James
Hamblin, and William TUly, probably associates of Mr. Collicut.
In an inquiry of this kind, entire accuracy is not to be
expected, but these three points in regard to the settlement of
Barnstable are clearly established.
1st. In the winter of 1637-8, Rev. Stephen Bachiler, with a
company consisting of himself, his sons, his sons-in-law, and his
grand-sons, in all making five or six families, settled at the north-
east part of the town. They remained till the Spring of 1638,
when they abandoned the attempt to form a permanent settlement,
and all removed.
2d. In 1638, or on the year previous, the lands atMattakeese
were granted to Mr. Richard Collicut of Dorchester, and his
associates. Under the authority of this grant, two settlements
were made, the larger near the Unitarian Meeting House, and the
other near Coggin's Pond. In March, 1639, there were about
fifteen families in the two neighborhoods. June 14, 1639, new
style, when the grant to Mr. Collicut was revoked, about twenty.
1 1 do not state this with perfect confidence of its accuracy. Ilespecting the Collicut
lots ; there are two, one laid to Barnard Lumbert, and one to Samuel Mayo. The one near
the mill, afterwards Dolar Davis', I suppose to be Lumbard's, the other including Major
IPhinney's house lot, and the house lot of Timothy Reed, deceased, I judge was Samuel
Mayo's. Both were sold early, the latter was owned in 1654 by the Widow Mary Hallett,
probably widow ot Mr. Andrew Hallett, the schoolmaster.
336 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES.
3d. June 14, 1639, N. 8., Barnstable was incorporated as a
town, and the lands therein graiited to Rev. Joseph Hull and Mr.
Thomas Dimmoek, as a committee of the townsmen, and of such
as should thereafter be regularly admitted. In that month feev.
Mr. Lothrop and a majority of his church resolved to remove to
Barnstable, and some then came ; but a great majority came by
water Oct. 21, 1639, N. S., making the whole number of families
,then in Barnstable forty-one, the full number required.
If the names already given, .John Chipman, John Phinney,
John Otis, John Howland, Thomas Ewer, William Sergeant, and
Edward Coleman, who came to Barnstable a few years latei', are
added, the list will include the emigrant ancestors of nineteen
twentieths of the present inhabitants of the town of Barnstable.
Capt. John Dickenson and Jas. Nabor were also early inhabitants.
Nearly -.all the ofBees were conferred upon Messrs. Hull and
Dimmoek. They were the land committee, an office involving
arduous and responsible duties, and the exercise of a sound
judgment and discretion. That they performed their duties well,
the fact that no appeal from their decisions was ever made to the
Colony Court, affords sufficient evidence. They were the duputies
to the Colony Court, and seemed to possess the entire confidence
of the people. J >
Mr. iDimmock was also a deputy to the Plymouth Colonv
Court in, 1640, '41, '42, '48, '49, and '60. He was admitted a
freeman of the Colony Dec. 3, 1639. June 2, 1640, Mr.
Thomas Dimmoek of Barnstable, Mr. John Crow of Yarmouth,
were appointed to "join with Mr. Edmond Freeman of Sandwich,
to hear and determine all causes and controversies within the
three townships not : exceeding twenty shillings, according to
the former order of the Court." This was the first Court estab-
lished in the County of Barnstable. Mr. B>eeman had been
elected an assistant in the preceeding March, and by virtue of that
office was a magistrate or judge ; but he was not qualified till June
2, 1640, but Mr. Dimmoek and Mr. Crow were qualified. Cases
involving larger sums were tried before the Governor and assis-
tants. The first court of assistants, or Supreme Court, convened
in this County, was held in Yarmouth June 17, 1641. June 5,
1644, Mr. Dimmoek and Mr. Crow were re-appointed magistrates
{Mr. Hull's popularity in Barnstable soon waned. In 1640 he does not appear to have
held any office. May 1, 1641, he was excommunicated from the Barnstable Church, for
joining a company in Yarmouth as their pastor. He was however received again into
fellowship Aug. 10, 1643. From Barnstable , he removed to Oyster Eiver, Maine, and from
thence in. 1662 to the Isle of Shoals where he died 19th Nov. 1665. Simple justice has never
been done to the memory of Eev. Joseph ,Hull. He came over in 1835, probably from
Barnstaple tn Devonshire. He welcomed Mr. Lothrop and his church to Barnstable, he
then opened the doors of his house, one of the largest and best in the plantation, for their
meetings, — he feasted them on thanksgiving days, and was untiring in his eiforts for their
temporal prosperity. He is not charged witn any immorality, or with holding any heretical
opinions; yet he was driven from the town, that probably received its name, as a mark of
respect to him. His history is worthy to be preserved, and at the proper time I shall
endeavor to do justice to his memory.
GKNEALOGIOAL NOTES OF BAEN8TABLE FAMILIES. 337
or assistants of Mr. Freeman, who was the chief justice of the
inferior court, and assistant, or associate justice of the higher
court.
Sept. 22, 1642, Mr. Dimmock was appointed by the Colony
Court t© be one of the council of war. On the 10th of Oct. 1642,
he was elected lieutenant§ of the company of militia in Barnstable,
and the Court approved of the choice March 3, 1645-6, the grand
jury presented him "for neglecting to exercise Barnstable men in
arms ;" but the Court, after hearing the evidence, discharged the
complaint. In July, 1646, Mr. Dimmock was again re-elected
lieutenant, and the choice was approved.
In 1650, he was one of the commissioners of the Plymouth
Colony, to confer witli a similar commission of the Massachusetts
Colony, and decide respecting the title of the lands at Shawwamet
and Patuxet.
On the 7th of August, 1650, he was ordained Elder of the
Church of Barnstable, of which he had been a member from its
organization.
These extracts require no comment. They prove that Mr.
Dimmock was held by the colony, the town, and the church, to be
a man of integrity and ability. He lived at a time when the
faults of every man holding a prominent position in society were
recorded. One complaint only was ever made against him, and
that was "discharged" as unfounded and frivolous.
After 1650 he does not appear to have held any public ofl8ce8,
and in 1654 he had leased his farm, though he continued to reside
in Barnstable. He died in 1658 or 1659, and in his nuncopative
will, attested to by Anthony Annable and John Smith, they state
that "when he was sick last summer, [1658] he said, what little
he had he would give to his wife, for the children were hers as
well as his."
Few of the first settlers lived a purer life than Elder Thomas
Dimmock. He came over, not to amass wealth, or acquire honor ;
but that he might worship his God according to the dictates of his
own conscience ; and that he and his posterity might here enjoy
the blessings of civil and religious liberty. His duties to his God,
to his country, and to his neighbor, he never forgot, never know-
ingly violated. In the tolerant views of his beloved pastor, the
Rev. John Lothrop, he entirely coincided. If his neighbor was
an Ana-Baptist or a Quaker, he did not judge him, because he
held, that to be a perogative of Deity, which man had no right to
assume.
A man who holds to such principles, whose first and only
inquiry is what does duty demand, and performs it, will rarely
stray far from the Christian fold. His posterity will never ask to
§Lieutenant was then the highest rank in the local militia.
338 GBNBALOG-ICAL NOTKS OF BAKN STABLE FAMILIES.
what sect he belonged, they will call him blessed, and only regret
that their lives are not like his.
In the latter part of his life Mr. Dimmock appears to have
been of feeble health, and unable to perform any act that required
labor or care. It appears also, that he was obliged to sell a por-
tion of his ample real estate, to provide means for the support of
himself and family, and at his death he gave the remainder to his
wife, in a "will" full of meaning and characteristic of the man.
Dimmock is an old name in England, and there are many
families who bear it. It has various spellings, and probably was
originally the same as that of Dymocke, the hereditary champion
of England, an office now abolished, who at coronations owed the
service of Challenge to all competitors for the crown. In this
country I find the name written Dymocke, Dimmock, Dimack,
Dimuck, Dimicku. In the commission of Edward Dimmock
engrossed on parchment, three different spellings of the
name occur. The family usually write the name Dimmock, but
many Dimick, which is more nearly in accordance with tlie pro-
nunciation than any other spelling. It is probably a Welch or a
West of England name, and some facts stated by Burke in his
genealogy of the family favor the family tradition, that Elder
Thomas Dimmock's father was Edward, and that he came from
Barnstaple or that vicinity.
I. Elder Thomas Dimmock married Ann [Hammond ?] *
before his removal to Barnstable. His children were :
2. I. Timothy, baptized by Mr. Lothrop Jan. 12, 1639-40,
and was the first of the English who died in Barnstable, and
was buried June 17, 1640, "in the lower syde of the Calves
Pasture."
3. II. Mehitable, baptized April 18, 1642. She married
Richard Child of Watertown, March 30, 1662, where she
appears to have beeu a resident at the time. She
died Aug. 18, 1676, aged 34. She had 1, Richard,
March 30, 1663; 2, Ephraim, Oct. 9, 1664; 3, Shubael,
Dee. 19, 1665, he married, was afterwards insane, and
froze to death in the County prison ; 4, Mehitable ; 5,
Experience, born Feb. 26, 1669-70; 6, Abigail, born June
16, 1672, married Joseph Lothrop, Esq., of Barnstable; 7,
Ebenezer, born Nov. 10, 1674 ; 8, Hannah, twin, born Nov.
10, 1674, married Joseph Blush of Barnstable.
4. III. Shubael, baptized Sept. 15, 1644, married Joanna,
daughter of John Bmsley, April 1663.
*To attempt to gleau in a field which has been surveyed by so thorough a genealogist as
Dr. Bond, may seem presumptuous. Samuel House, Hobert Linnett, and Thomas Dim-
mock it appears by the records of Mr. Lothrop, were his brothers-in-law. Rev. Mr.
Lothrop iliarried for his second wife, Anae, daughter of William Hammond of Watertown;
Samuel House mamed her sister Elizabeth; Mr. Lothrop's son Thomas married Sarah,
daughter of Robert Lmnell; William Hammond had tivo daughters of the name Anne, and
this would not be a case without a parallel, if both were hving .it the same time, and that
one mamed Mr. Lothrop and tlio other Mr. Dimmock.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 339
The children of Elder Dimmock are not recorded on the
Barnstable town, or on the Plymouth Colony records. The above
are from the church records, which are more reliable than either of
the others. He may have had children before he came to Barn-
stable ; but it is not probable. The widow Ann Dimmock was
living in Oct. 1683. The date of her decease is not on the town
or church records. She probably died before 1686.
4. Ensign Shubael Dimmock, only son of Elder Thomas,
who lived to mature age, sustained the character and reputation of
his father. In 1669 he was a resident in Yarmouth ; but did not
I'emain long. In Barnstable he was much employed in town busi-
ness. He was one of the selectmen in 1686 and 6, a deputy to
the Colony Court in the same years, and again in 1689 after the
expulsion of Sir Edmond Andros. He was Ensign of the militia
company, and was called in the records Ensign Shubael Dimmock.
About the year 1693 he removed to Mansfield, Conn., where he
was known as Dea. Dimmock. He died in that town Sunday, Oct.
29, 1732, at 9 o'clock, in the 91st year of his age, and his wife
Joanna May 8, 1727, aged 83 years.
He inherited the real estate of his father, to which he made
large additions. Of his place of residence and business in Yar-
mouth, I find no trace in the records. In 1686 he resided in the
fortification house which was his father's. The house which his
son Capt. Thomas afterwards resided in, was built and owned by
him. it was built 176 years ago, and as it has always been kept
in good repair, few would mistrust from its appearance that it was
so ancient. It remained in the family till about 1812, when it
was sold to the father of Mr. Selleck Hedge, the present owner.
This house, and the houses built by Ensign Dimmock's sons, all
belong to the class of buildings known as high single houses.
They were of wood, and somewhat larger, but the style was the
same as that of Elder Thomas'. They contained the same num-
ber of rooms, fronted either due north or due south, and on clear
days the shadows of the house were a sun dial to the inmates, the
only time piece which they could consult.
Ensign Dimmock, at the time of his marriage, April 1663,
was only eighteen years and seven months old, and his wife
Joanua seventeen years and one month. At her death, they had
lived in the marriage state 64 years. His children born in
Barnstable were :
Thomas, born April 1664.
John, Jan. 1666.
Timothv, March 1668.
Shubael", Feb. 1673.
Joseph, Sept. 1676.
Mehitabel, 1677.
Benjamin, March 1680.
0.
i.
6.
II.
7.
III.
8.
IV.
9.
V.
10.
VI.
11.
VII.
340 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
12. VIII. Joanna, March 1682.
13. IX. Thankful, Nov. 1684.
5. Capt. Thomas Dimmoek, or Dimmack, as he wrote his
name, son of Ensign Shubael, was in the military service in the
eastern country, and was killed in battle at Canso, on the 9th of
Sept. 1697. He was a gallant officer, and in the battle in which he
lost his life he would not conceal himself in the thicket or shelter
himself behind a tree, as the other officers and soldiers under his
command did, but stood out in the open field, a conspicuous mark
for the deadly aim of the French, and of the Indian warriors. t
Capt. Dimmoek resided in the East Parish, and about the
year 1690 bought the dwelling-house of Henry Taylor, which
stood on the east of the common field road, where Mr. Nathaniel
Gorham now resides. This he' sold to Nathaniel Orris in 1694.
He afterwards owned and occupied his father's house, above
described. Though only thirty-three at his death, he had acquired
a large estate. The real estate which was his father's was apprised
at £110 ; the farm at West Barnstable bought of Jonathan Hatch,
at £72 ; land bought of Thomas Lumbert, Sen'r, Henry Taylor,
and Sergeant Cobb, £20 ; meadow in partnership with John Bacon
and Samuel Cobb, £16 ; and meadow at Rowley's Spring, formerly
his father's, £12. He had a large personal estate, including one-
sixth of a sloop, shares in whale boats, &c.
Capt. Thomas Dimmoek married Desire Sturgis. He died
Sept. 9, 1697, and she married 2d, Col. John Thacher, 2d of that
name, Nov. 10, 1698, by whom she had six children. She died
29th March, 1749, in the 84th year of her age. Her husband
wrote some highly eulogistic poetry on her death. }:
His children born in Barnstable were :
14. I. Mehitabel, born Oct. 1686. She married Capt. John
Davis Aug. 13, 1705, and died May 1775, aged 88. (For
a notice of her see Davis.)
15. II. Temperance, June 1689, married June 2, 1709, Benja-
min Freeman of Harwich, and has numerous descendants.
16. III. Edward, born 5th July 1692. (See account of his
family below.)
17. IV. Thomas, born 25th Dec. 1694. Of this son I have
no information.
18. V. Desire, born Feb. 1696, married Job Gorham Dec. 4,
1719, died Jan. 28, 1732-3.
fThis is the tradition which has been preserved in the neighborhood; but I find no men-
tion of his death in the histories of the times which I have consulted. It was the last year
of King "Williams' war, and great alarm prevailed throughout New England that tlie
country would be invaded by the French. Capt. Dimmoek was engaged in the whale
fishery, and he may have been on a whaling voyage at the time ; but the statement in the
text is probably accurate.
XI have the original in the hand-writing of Col. Thatcher. I preserve it not for the
poetry; but because it is written on the back of a valuable historical document.
GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMlLlKiS. 341
6. John Dimmock, or Dimuck, as he wrote his name, son of
Ensign Shubael, was a farmer and resided in Barnstable till
October 1709, when he exchanged his farm in Barnstable contain-
ing forty acres of upland and thirty of meadow, his liouselot and
commonage, with Samuel Sturgis of Barnstable, for a farm on
Monosmenekecon Neck, in Falmouth, containing 150 acres and
other lands in the vicinity of said Neck, and removed to that
town, where he has descendants. His house in Barnstable is now
owned by Mr. Wm. W. Sturgis. He married, Nov. 1689, Eliza-
beth Lumbert, and had nine children born in Barnstable, viz :
19. I. Sarah, born Dec. 1690.
20. II. Anna, or Hannah, last of Julv 1692.
21. III. Mary, June 1695.
22. IV. Theophilus, Sept. 1696, married Sarah, daughter of
Benjamin Hinckley, Oct. 1, 1722.
23. V. Timothy, July 1698.
24. VI. Ebenezer, Feb. 1700.
25. VII. Thankful, 5th April. 1702.
26. VIII. Elizabeth, 20th April, 1704, married John Lovell
1750.
27. IX. David, baptized 19th May, 1706.
7. Timothy Dimmock, son of Ensign Shubael, removed to
Mansfield, Conn., and from thence to Ashford where he died
about the year 1733. His wife was named Abigail. She had six
children born in Mansfield. Timothy, born June 5, 1703, is the
first named on the record. He had also Israel and Ebenezer, the
latter born 22d Nov. 1715, and was the grandfather of Col. J.
Dimick of Fort Warren, Boston harbor. He has many descend-
ants in Connecticut.
8. Shubael Dimock, son of Ensign Shubael, resided in
Barnstable. He married Tabitha Lothrop May 4, 1699. She
died July 24, 1727, aged 56 years; he died Dec. 16, 1728, aged
55 years'. Both are buried in the ancient grave yard on the Old
Meeting House Hill. His father, on his removal to Mansfield,
gave him a share of his estate. His children, born in Barnstable,
were —
28. I. Samuel, born 7th May, 1702, married Hannah Davis
1724. June 1, 1740, she was dismissed to the church in
Tolland, Conn. She died in Barnstable, a widow, Oct. 13,
1755 ; but the family probably remained in Connecticut.
They had seven children born in Barnstable: 1, Mehitable,
April 25, 1722, Sabbath ; 2, Samuel, Oct. 17, 1726, Monday ;
3, Hannah, Nov. 26, 1728, Tuesday ; 4, Shubael, 31st Janu-
ary, 1731, Sabbath ; 5, Joseph, Feb. 19, 1733, Monday;
6, Mehitabel, 29th Sept. 1735, Monday ; 7, Daniel, May 28,
1738, Sabbath ; 8, David, 1745. (Born in Connecticut.)
Samuel Dimmock has numerous descendants. He resided
342 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
several years in Saybrook, Conn. His widow, as above stated,
died ill Barnstable, and it is said that he also died in his native
town. His son Samuel died at Albany in 1756 ; Shubael went to
Mansfield, and it is said removed to Nova Scotia, before the Revo-
lution ; Joseph lived many years in Wethersfield, Conn., and died
in 182.5 at one of his daughter's in Greenville, N. Y., aged 92.
Several of his descendants were sea captains and lost at sea.
.Joseph .J. Dimock, late Assistant Secretary of State, Hartford, is
a great grandson of .Joseph. Daniel, son of Samuel, lived in the
eastern part of Connecticut. David Dimock, a son of Samuel,
born after his removal from Barnstable, removed from Wethers-
field to Montrose, Penn., and died there in 1832, aged 87.
Davis, a son of David, was a Baptist preacher of some note — a
man all work — baptized 2,000 persons — preached 8,000 sermons —
a practicing physician — acting county judge, &c. The descend-
ants of David at Montrose are among the most worthy and influ-
ential in that region. Milo M., a son, was a member of Congress
in 1852, Associate Judge, &c.
29. II. David, baptized 11th June, 1704 Married Thankful
Cobb, October 14, 1746. (Doubtful.)
30. III. Joanna, born 24th Dec. 1708; died January, 1709.
31. IV. Mehitable, born 26th June, 1711.
32. V. Shubael, baptized April, 1706.
9. Joseph Dimmock, son of Ensign Shubael, married, 12th
May, 1699, Lydia, daughter of Doct. John Fuller. She learned
the trade of tailoress, and after the death of her father, Stephen
Skiff, Esq., of Sandwich, was her guardian. Her mother-in-law
administered on the estate, and May 9, 1700 she acknowledges the
receipt of £75. from her said mother, then wife of Capt. John
Lothrop, in full for her right in her father's estate. Several mem-
bers of this family removed to Connecticut. She died there
November 6, 1755, aged 80. Children born in Barnstable:
33. I. Thomas, born 26th January, 1699-1700.
84. II. Bethiah, 3d Febuary, 1702. Married, 1726, Samuel
Annable. Oct. 22, 1751, dismissed from the Barnstable
Church to the church in Scotland, Conn.
35. III. Mehitable, 22d Nov., 1707, married Thomas Crocker,
1727, died 1729.
36. IV. Ensign, (?) born 8th Nov., 1709, married Abigail
Tobey, of Sandwich, Oct. 19, 1731, and had — 1, Thomas,
29th Oct. 1732; 2, Mehitable, 12th April 1735; 3, Joseph,
12th July, 1740.
Joseph Dimmock resided in the east parish. His house stood
on the spot where Asa Young, Esq., now resides. It was a two
story single house like his brother's, father's and grandfather's.
On his removal to Connecticut it wa.s sold to the Sturgis's, and
passed from them into the possession of Bangs Young and his son
GRNEALOQICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE PAMIHES. 343
Asa. It was taken down about 30 years ago. "fShuball Dim-
mack" of Maasfield, oa the 6th of" March, 1705-G, "for the
natural affection he bears to his son Joseph Dimmock," conveyed
to him eight acres of land on the west side of his gi'eat lot (now
Joshua Thayer's home lot) with one acre more on the north side
of the road (now the house lot of Asa Young, Esq.) This laud,
at the time, was under lease to Shubael Dimmock, Jr. The con-
ditions of the deed were as follows: "That the said Joseph Dim-
mock shall not make sale, or give conveyance of the said given
and granted nine acres of land from his heirs to any stranger or
person whatever, except it bee to some or one of his brothers
John or Shubael Dimmock, or their heirs of the race of the Dim-
mocks, unless they or either of them, or theirs, shall refuse upon
tender of sale of the premises to give the true and just value
thereof for the time being, that any other will give in reality,
bonejide, without deceit, or what it may be valued at by two indif-
ferent or uninterested persons." Similar provisio.ns I presume
were incorporated in the deeds to his other sons. Excepting one
small house lot, all the lands of Ensign Dimmock passed out of
the possession of the Dimmocks fifty years ago, and all the lands
of the elder a century ago. As numerous as this family was at
the beginning of the eighteenth century, there is now only one, a
maiden lady, who bears the name in the town of Barnstable.
37. V. Ishabod, born 8th March, 1711.
38. VI. Abigail, born 31st June, 1714, married Thomas Anna-
ble April 1, 1768, his third wife and was the mother of
Abigail and Joseph, the latter yet remembered bv the aged.
39. VII. Pharoh, 2d Sept. 1717.-
40. VIII. David, 22d Dec, 1721. (I think this David married
Thankful Cobb.) David, the son of Shubael, is named in
the church, but not in the town records, indicating that he
died early.
11. Benjamin Dimmock, son of Ensign Shubael, removed
with his father to Mansfield, Conn. Also his sisters Joanna and
Thankful ; but my correspondent, Wm. L. Weaver, Esq., to whom
1 am largely indebted for information respecting this and other
Connecticut families, gives me no particulars respecting them.
16. Edward Dimmock, son of Capt. Thomas, resided on the
paternal estate. He was a lieutenant in the militia and his com-
mission, jengrossed on parchment, is preserved by his descendants.
He was captain of the 1st Company, 7th Mass. Regiment, in the
expedition against LouL-^burg, liis commission bearing date Feb.
15, 1744, O. S. He married in 1720 Hannah , and had —
41. I. Anna, 23d Nov. 1721. Married Thomas Agrey or
Egred March 7, 1749. He is said to have been the first in
Barnstable who made ship-building a business. Many who
afterwards built vessels in Barnstable served their appren-
344 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKN8TABLE FAMILIES.
ticeship with him. He had a son John born in Barnstable
.Jan. 2, 1752. He removed to Maine where he has descend-
ants.
42. II. Thomas, baptized July 25, 1725, died young.
43. III. Edward, baptized March 17, 1726, died young.
44. IV. Thomas, born 16th March, 1727, married Elizabeth
Bacon Oct. 7, 1755, and had Charles 10th Dec. 1756, a
master ship carpenter, the father of the late John L. Uim-
moch: of Boston, and Col. Charles Dimmock of Richmond,
Va., and others; 2, Hannah, 21st July, 1758. In her old
age she became the fourth wife of Capt. Job Chase of Har-
wich ; 3, John, 16th June, 1764.
Children of Timothy Dimmock and his wife Abigail, born in
Mansfield, Conn. :
I. Timothy, June 2, 1703.
II. John, Jan. 3, 1704-5, settled in Ashford.
III. Shubael, May 27, 1707.
IV. Daniel, Jan. 28, 1709-10.
V. Israel, Dec. 22, 1710.
VI. Ebenezer, Nov. 22, 1715.
11. VII. Benj. Dimmock, son of JiUsigD Shubael, by his
wife Mary, had the following children born in Mansfield, Conn. :
I. Perez, June 14, 1704, married Mary Bayley Nov. 5, 1725,
and had a familv.
II. Mehitabel, June 8, 1706, died Dec. 1713.
III. Peter, June 5, 1708, died Aug. 1714.
IV. Mary, Sept. 14, 1710.
V. Joanna, June 22, 1713.
VI. Shubael, June 22, 1715.
VII. Mehitabel, Aug. 6, 1719.
12. VIII. Joannah Dimmock, daughter of Ensign Shubael,
married, Oct. 6, 1709, at Windham, Josiah Conant, son of P^xoise,
and grandson of Roger, a man of note in early times. She had
only one child, Shubael, born July 15, 1711. Shubael Conant
was a very prominent man in Mansfield. He was a judge of the
court, held various town, county, and state offices, and was one of
the Governor's Council of safety at the commencement of the
Revolutionary War.
13. IX. Thankful Dimmock, youngest daughter of Ensign
Shubael, married, June 28, 1706, Dec. Edward Waldo, of Wind-
ham. She had ten children, and died Dec. 13, 1757, aged 71
years. Among her living descendants are Rev. Daniel Waldo, a
grandson, of Syracuse, N. Y., aged one hundred years Sept. 10,
1862 ; and Judge Loren P. Waldo, late Judge of the Superior
Court of Connecticut.
17. IV. Thomas Dimmock, son of Capt. Thom